Journals of the War
by PandoraTheFangirlQueen
Summary: War is brewing between humans and monsters. The young prince Asgore Dreemurr is determined to document the events of the war and make sure his friends go down in history as heroes. But he can't do this alone. Join Asgore and his friends as they unite a nation of monsters against a common foe. Meanwhile, one question lingers in everyone's minds: Is Asgore really fit to be a king?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys! To all my Lunar Republic readers, guess what? I'm not dead! I probably won't update the Lunar Republic for a long time. That story was going nowhere.**

 **Anyway this story is about what happened in the Monster-Human War. Yeah, this chapter isn't really eventful but it'll pick up in the next chapter.**

 **Enjoy!**

May 17, 178 Angels' Era

Entry#1

Howdy! My name is Asgore Dreemurr. Mother gave me this journal for my tenth birthday today. She says since I am ten, I am old enough to start recording my experiences.

So if you are Toriel or one of my other friends reading this journal, stop reading! Don't you know anything about privacy? Give the journal back and apologise!

Today was wonderful! It was my birthday so Mother and Father held a dance party for me. I danced with lots of the kids and some of the adults, too. I mostly danced with Toriel, though, since she is my best friend.

Mother said to write in this journal as if I am explaining things for a friend, so I should explain everything: I am the prince of monsters. Mother's name is Amoura Dreemurr, and she is the queen of monsters. Father's name is Amynos Dreemurr and he is the king. Toriel is the daughter of Father's main advisor. I have know her since I was a baby and we are best friends.

Anyway, Father invited some of the best chefs in the Spider Village come cook for us. (Not the princess, of course, the princess would not be hired to cook for us, even if she's the best baker in the history of monster kind.) Musicians from the Fish Village (the small, artsy one, not the big military one) were invited to come perform. Some of the big military fish were asked to come and stand around and look tough.

One of them showed me a thing they called "glamour". It is a type of magic that changes your appearance. The fish made their belly swell up like a pregnant monster, and then made their fins grow super long. It was really funny. I wanted to learn how to use glamour, but they said only fish monsters can use it.

Father made the party open for all and a lot of monsters came. He invited humans, too like he always does when he throws an open-for-all party, but no humans show up anymore. Not even Paz.

I never really liked Paz. She was Father's friend from back when they were children. Now she is very old and wrinkly. I guess I can't blame her. She is a human and humans will age no matter how happy they are (even though Paz did not seem very happy whenever I saw her). But Paz makes me uncomfortable. Every smile she gives me seems fake. The last time she came, I heard her and Father have a heated argument about souls.

I will try to keep my promise to Mother and write a new entry every couple of days. I'm sure I can do it. I'll come back in a few days.

~Asgore

 **A/N: For real. I promise the next chapter will have more action. This chapter is just for exposition/foreshadowing.**

 **Remember that sticking a fork in the microwave is a very bad idea and review!**

 **~Pandora**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hi, guys! I'm going on vacation tomorrow so I'm posting this now. From now on I'll post new chapters on Sundays (at least, that's the plan).**

 **Here's the new chapter. Enjoy!**

July 29, 180 A.E.

Entry #2

Okay, so maybe I have not been keeping my promise.

I will start writing now, though, after all that's happened. Mother would want me to keep a document of the war. She is crazy about documents and books, but now she will be too busy and too anxious to keep a journal herself.

I will start from the beginning.

Last night Paz barged into our house, waving her spear around and yelling words that I won't write down in case a small child comes across this journal. Had she been anyone else, she would have been instantly arrested by the guards. One of the older guards was on duty tonight, though, and recognised her.

Paz's screaming woke everyone in the castle. I was curious to see what this was all about, but Mother found me before I could get to the entrance.

"Azzy, dear," she whispered, keeping a firm grip on my shoulder, "it's late. Maybe you should go to bed. I'll tell you what happens in the morning and have the cook make you your favorite pie for breakfast."

She shooed away the servants and gave me a kiss on the forehead before going to join Father. I knew she wanted me to go back to my room, but it sounded like Paz and Father were really upset. I was curious. I couldn't help myself.

So I hid at the top of the staircase and listened to the conversation.

"Paz, what is the meaning of this?" Father asked. He had his trident out, as a symbol of status. I have tried holding the trident before, but it was too heavy for me, so whenever I hold the trident, I always keep the heavy end pointing down. He never used to take it out when meeting with Paz, but he began doing it the last time I saw her, after she and Father had the argument.

"Amynos Dreemurr, you need to control your subjects," Paz huffed. She shifted her weight, which made the light from the candles shine a different way on her. She looked very dusty, like she'd been rolling around in the dirt. "One of _your_ monsters killed someone in one of _my_ villages."

Mother seemed very shocked. "Please tell us what happened, Paz. We'll make sure whoever it is gets a trial and a proper punishment.

Paz waved her off. "No need, Amoura. We already killed them."

I gasped then. If Paz or my parents heard me, they gave no sign.

"This monster, I think they were a fish or something, one of the strong warrior ones, came to one of my villages this afternoon carrying the dead body of a villager," Paz explained, her voice deadly quiet, "The body had a knife stuck through the chest. The family asked your monster what happened and they said they took his soul. The family killed the monster, of course. It was murder! And this isn't the first time it happened! I demand more law enforcements that-"

Father held up his hand. "Paz," he said carefully, "had it occurred to you that the monster might not have killed the human? Maybe he died of some other cause and the monster just decided to absorb the soul? I mean, if they were a soldier, they might just want the soul to be better in battle."

Paz waved her hand. "Amynos, you never listen! There was a knife stuck in his chest. A _knife._ Either someone threw it at him or he stuck it in himself. Do you seriously think I've missed all those times your fish soldiers killed the white invaders with those magic knives? It had to be your soldier. They wanted a human soul, so they decided to murder one of my villagers for it. You know how I feel about your soldiers going to fresh graves and digging out a soul and now murder?"

"Hush, Paz," Father growled, "Your villagers have killed one of my subjects, too. Don't forget that. You are lucky I am not punishing them right now."

Paz smiled. "Are you threatening my people, Amynos?" she asked sweetly.

"It's the truth," Father said flatly. "That monster might have been innocent. A murderer would not carry their victim's body back to his family and explain what happened. If they truly had ill intentions, they would have killed the family when they attacked them. You know how strong a monster with a human soul is, Paz. The only reason you don't have the bodies of an entire family on your hands is because the monster your people killed was innocent."

"So you are threatening me, then!" Paz said cheerfully. Then she scowled. "This isn't the first time a soul has been taken by your monsters. Do you know how hard it is for the people when they realize their families' souls have been taken out of their graves? I demand your monsters stay far away from my people. Keep your barbaric ways away from us."

Father took a step towards Paz. Despite the fact that he was almost twice as tall as her, she didn't flinch. "I would suggest that you think about what you say next," Father said, firmly gripping his trident.

"Or what, Amynos?" Paz said, waving her spear in a clean arc. "Monsters and humans have coexisted together for almost two hundred years, I know, but we don't actually need each other. You might need us, of course. Don't tell me you didn't get the design for your house and all your clothes from the white invaders. But we don't need you. I could take the soul of everyone here like your monsters have from my people and-"

Father waved his trident at Paz. "Do. Not. SAY that!" he boomed. Paz stumbled back, clutching her cheek. When she pulled her hand away, I could see a long red line running down from her left ear to the right side of her chin. A quick check of her stats told me that she had ten HP left.

Father's trident clattered to the ground. Mother gasped and rushed forward to heal the cut. Paz slapped her hand away, glaring at my parents with a look of pure hatred.

"Paz," Father gasped, "p-please, I'm sorry-"

"So it's a fight you want, then," Paz said quietly. "Fine. We humans declare war on the monsters." Paz's poncho fluttered around her body gracefully as she turned on her heel and marched out the gate.

"By the way." She paused a few steps away from the gate and touched her cheek again. "Let it be known that the monsters have drawn the first blood."

My parents and I stood frozen in our spots for a long time. Then I quietly slipped back to bed.

What does it mean to have a war? My tutors have taught me about some wars that happened between the monster tribes from a few hundred years ago before my grandparents united everyone. They said that monsters fought and killed each other. Father had told me once that Paz's tribe was at war with a kingdom of other humans from the other side of the ocean with pale skin and metal tubes that shoot stones. I have never heard of a war between humans and monsters, though. What's going to happen?

I'm so scared.

~Asgore.

 **A/N: Dun dun dun! Yes, Paz's name is supposed to be short for Pacifist.**

 **Remember, hang** **gliding** **on live electrical wires between telephone poles is very dangerous!**

 **Review!**

 **~Pandora**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi, everyone! Here's this week's chapter:**

August 13, 180 A.E.

Entry #3

The humans have attacked a nearby village of Froggits yesterday. They killed so many people: the adults, the elderly, and the children. The survivors burst into our village today, covered in dust and blood. Most of the monsters that made it to our village survived, but some of them died. We did not know most of them, so we do not know what to put their dust on for the funeral.

Father had a mental breakdown. Mother says that she thinks the humans wanted to declare war from the beginning. The froggits said that about ten warriors came to the massacre. Father said that Paz had a hundred and fifty warriors in the villages the last time he checked. Paz would not use a big portion of her warriors in one attack in a fairly small village, so there must be a lot more warriors if she was to spare ten. Mother says she must have trained them very early on.

Father pulled me back today when I was on my way to help tend to the wounded Froggits. "I know this is all very scary to you," he told me, "but please be brave, okay? For our people?" I nodded and told him that I will. He kissed my forehead and said, "You are the future of humans and monster, Asgore. I'm so proud of you."

Mother and Father are having an argument downstairs. They have been at it for the entire afternoon. Toriel says that they might send me away since I am the prince and the humans were already attacking places very close by.

I do not want to leave. I want to stay with my parents. I have to be brave for our people. I do not want anyone to die in this war, either, even though people already did. I do not want this war. Why did Paz have to declare this war? This is so unfair.

~Asgore

 **If you want, please check out my Tumblr: pandorathefangirlqueen!**

 **Remember that if you laid out someone's blood vessels end to end, you would get a 60,000 mile long tube. This would be fun to watch but it might get you arrested for manslaughter.**

 **Review!**

 **~Pandora**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi, everyone! I noticed I got two reviews in the last chapter. Thank you so much! If you also read the Lunar Republic, you would have remembered that I used to offer multiple updates if I received a certain number of reviews. Well, I'm going to start doing that now. If I get five or more reviews on my most recent chapter before the next update, then I'll post two chapters on the next update.**

 **You probably also noticed that I've updated my profile and changed the cover image of this story. I hope that didn't confuse anyone. If I'm going to change the summary or the cover image of this story again, I'll post a heads-up here.**

 **Southern Moon: It's actually a headcanon of mine that monsters do bleed. No, it's not because of that thing with Sans at the end of his fight. (That was probably ketchup anyway.) Before the Undyne the Undying fight, Monster Kid mentions having a heart. They could have just been talking about their soul, but I'd prefer to think of it as an actual heart, which means monsters have blood. This chapter, if you haven't noticed already, is short, but the next chapter and the chapter after that will be long. Sometimes people are just not in the mood for writing too much in their journal, especially if they're a kid like Asgore.**

 **Here's today's chapter:**

August 17, 180 A.E.

Entry #4

Mother told me to pack my things. She said that she is sending me to a village up north, in the mountains. She said that it is a skeleton village. Toriel said that skeletons are good at healing _and_ fighting so they can protect me.

I asked Mother if anyone is going to come with me, specifically her or Father. She told me that she and Father had to stay to manage the war, but if I wanted to, I could pick one willing friend to go up north with me.

"I understand your need of company, Azzy," she told me, "but we cannot have too many people go. Too many people will take too long and draw attention from the humans, and the whole reason we're sending you away is to hide you."

"From what?" I asked. Mother hugged me and told me that I was a very brave child. She didn't answer my question. I do not feel brave. I am fleeing from danger while villages are being massacred.

I wonder how much Toriel likes snow.

~Asgore

 **You guys can probably guess who Asgore and Toriel are going to stay with. There's not much to say here.**

 **Remember that Harry Potter, a child that was abused by his relatives for the first seventeen years of his life, would never, EVER tell his son that he wishes he wasn't his dad. And also a twenty-something year old woman flirting with a fourteen year old boy is creepy as heck. (Guess what I'm bitter about.)**

 **Review!**

 **~Pandora**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey everyone! I think you've all been wanting a longer chapter, so here's a longer chapter for today:**

August 20, 180 A.E.

Entry #5

Today we set off to the skeleton village. Toriel agreed to come with me. She said she thinks her mother was going to send her away soon anyway.

Mother and Father and Toriel's mother didn't come with us, but they came to send us off. The family that we were going to stay with came to get us.

The family we are staying with is called the Gaster family. They arrived at midday. They have two parents: Madrone Aster and Avebury Gaban. There are two kids, too. Cortisia is five and very chatty. She loves to flap her red scarf around. The other kid, Wingdin, is twelve, like me. He seemed pretty excited to meet us. He approached us several times, probably to talk to us, but then turned red and backed off every time.

Toriel and I grabbed each other's hands. This will be the first time we stay somewhere outside of our town. Toriel will be my only connection to home in the new village, and I will be hers.

Mr. Gaban took one look at Mother and pulled her aside to talk to her. When they finished talking, Mother seemed very shocked.

It turns out we did not need to pack anything for a trip. Msr. Aster and Mr. Gaban took our hands and teleported Toriel and me to their village. Wingdin came soon after and Mr. Gaban went back to get Cortisia since she was too young to travel that far herself. We got there just as a blizzard hit the village. By the time we got to the Gaster family's house, Toriel and I were both shivering. We had enough coats, but they were packed tightly in the bottom our bags. Neither of us wanted to mess up our luggage to get the coats.

On the walk there, I noticed that Toriel was fiddling with a chain on her neck. It was a pretty thing-a blood red gem pendant with a string of pearls. I saw Toriel's mother put it on her neck when they were saying goodbye.

"I like your new necklace," I told her.

"Thank you," she replied, "Mother gave it to me. She said she got this new necklace just for me, so it would give me...protection?"

I could not imagine what we would possibly need to be protected from. The necklace would not even be a good piece of armor. As pretty as it is, it was new and did not contain any sentimental value. Toriel's old jacket would serve as better armor than this.

"What would you need protection from?" I asked, "It is not like skeletons are a particularly violent race. I mean, I guess they can go against humans pretty well, but they would not hurt anyone unless they had to. And they would never hurt you since you are their guest, so-"

"It is not for my sake, Asgore," Toriel interrupted, "It is for yours. I need to protect you."

"Why would I need protecting? Why is it any different for me?"

"You are the heir for the throne. You will be the king of the monsters one day."

"That is another reason nobody would want to hurt me!"

"Why do you think skeletons learned how to fight humans in the first place?" Toriel snapped. She kept her eyes on the ground for the rest of the walk.

The Gaster family lives in a snowy town called Aiphuoxbone. People were not allowed to teleport within a twenty minute walk of the town because of traffic problems so we had to walk there. They have a small, one-floor log house with a roof made out of straw, wood, and mud. I was about to ask how it could possibly be stable when Toriel nudged me and told me to be polite.

"I did some research on this a few days ago when you asked me to come with you," she said, "Do not worry. It is completely waterproof and very warm. Do not be rude."

I was marveling at how Toriel managed to get her hands on books about Aiphuoxbone in less than three days when Msr. Aster cleared their throat.

"It's an honor to have the prince of monsters and the daughter of the king's most trusted advisor living in our home," they said, "We are not the richest family, so we won't have the luxuries that you are used to. You will be, however, our honored guests. We will do everything we can to make you two comfortable here."

Mr. Gaban twiddled his thumbs. "We have one extra room, but if you want, Wingdin can move into Cortisia's room and one of you can have his room."

Toriel and I glanced at each other. I could tell that she was thinking the same thing as me: the Gaster family is wonderful, and this house seems very cozy, but we have only known these people for less than a few hours. We are in a strange new town with a strange new family. Both of us were scared, and neither of us wanted to sleep in a room alone.

Toriel smiled at Mr. Gaban. "We would like to share a room, please."

So now Toriel and I are sitting in the guest room. We have both unpacked and we are about to have dinner with the Gaster family. I am writing this on my bed. Toriel is on the other side of the room, reading a book on her bed. There is a curtain in the middle of the room for privacy, and Toriel asked for the side with the door, so I cannot leave the room without being rude if the curtain was drawn.

It is not what I am used to-these mattresses are stiff (I think they are stuffed with straw) while my bed back home was soft and fluffy. My room was much bigger as well. But the family is so nice, and Toriel is here with me, so I feel right at home.

Oh! Mr. Gaban just shouted at us to come for dinner. I suppose I will stop writing for today. I am very hungry.

~Asgore

 **Asgore and Toriel will be staying in the skeleton village for the next little while. Don't worry. We'll still get news about the war.**

 **Remember that "ROSE DIDN'T HAVE A LION!" (She, in fact, had seven. Sorry, Pearl.)**

 **Review!**

 **~Pandora**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi, everyone! So, school is starting for me pretty soon, so I have no idea how much homework I'm gonna get. I'll keep updating this story weekly, but we'll see if that changes. If it does change, I'll let everyone know.**

 **Here's the chapter for today:**

August 21, 170 A.E.

Entry #6

I am so excited!

Today Wingdin came into our room and offered to show us around the village. He had another reason for talking to us as well, but I'm getting to that.

After breakfast, Toriel and I retreated into our room. I did not sleep well last night-the mattress was too hard and there was none of the familiar noise of servants scurrying around to put me to sleep. I could tell Toriel did not sleep well either.

(I don't think either of us will sleep well tonight, either, but that's for another reason!)

We were just discussing what we could do for the day when Wingdin knocked on our door.

"H-hi!" He gave us an awkward wave. "I was thinking...since, you know, you guys are new here maybe I could...show you guys around?"

When Toriel and I looked at each other, he said, "I mean! You don't have to! If you don't want to! But I thought...it would be nice? To get to know the village?"

Toriel stifled a giggle. "Sure, Wingdin," she said, "We would love to see the village.

Wingdin warmed up to us pretty quickly. He showed us the school. He said that we would be going there with him in two weeks, when the hail season ends. I wonder what they teach in this village. Since skeletons can see souls outside of a fight, most people here are healers. I would think they focus mostly on medical subjects, like anatomy or soul study.

Next Wingdin showed us the post office. Apparently some monster in a cloak comes in every day and gathers all the letters at the office and delivers them to their village where it gets sorted and delivered again.

"I have read about this," Toriel said, "There is an entire village where the main form of trade is mail and transportation services. No one knows where the village is except for the monsters who live in it."

"Yeah!" Wingdin said, "They're an individual race. They're kind of like skeletons in the sense that they can manipulate distance, which makes them good at travel and deliveries. They're, like humanoid..."

"But not a lot of people have seen what they actually look like, since they wear cloaks all the time to protect themselves from the weather." Toriel finished.

"Someone told me that this race is nomadic," Wingdin replied, "They don't actually have a village. They just go wherever work takes them. I don't know where they would sort the mail if that's the case, though, so I don't think that's true."

"Maybe," Toriel said, "they have a common place to put the letters, a place where everyone can access-"

"Like a tear in space!" Wingdin said.

"Exactly," Toriel replied, "They can just put letters there and other monsters that are at other villages can just take the letters addressed to that village and deliver them."

"That sounds really cool," I said. Wingdin told me that it was.

"I was wondering when you'd chip in, Asgore," he added, "You looked _spaced_ out."

We froze. Wingdin gave me an awkward grin as he waited for me to process that pun. After a moment, Toriel burst out laughing and I groaned.

"Hey, what can I say?" Wingdin said, "My jokes are _tear-_ able."

He and Toriel talked for a while about humans after Wingdin mentioned the human village nearby. I tried to join in, but I did not know about most of the things they were talking about. My tutor taught us about human affairs because I was the prince and Toriel was going to be my main advisor when we grew up, but I have no idea what "colonialism" or "industrial revolution" is.

Toriel knows so much more than me because she spends all her time reading. I read, of course, but I would much rather stay in the garden weeding plants and watering flowers. But Toriel is obsessed with humans and their traditions. I do not mind not understanding parts of Toriel and Wingdin's conversation. She has enough brains for both of us.

At about noon, we headed home. Wingdin's parents were at work and Cortisia was playing with her friends in the backyard, so it was just us in the house. Wingdin fixed us something called "spaghetti". Apparently it was introduced to the human village nearby a few years ago by some other humans from outside the continent and it caught on in the area. It is made from noodles covered in tomato sauce mixed with chunks of water sausage.

I had vague memory of Paz offering to take Father out for spaghetti a few years ago. I do not know why he refused. It was pretty good.

Toriel prodded a chunk of water sausage with her fork. "Did you know that instead of water sausage, humans use meat? That's why they call it "meatball". It's made from animals that they hunt and kill."

"That's so gross!" Cortisia had come inside. Her red scarf was dripping wet, like she had been rolling around in snow, and when she crossed the kitchen to help herself to spaghetti, she left watery footprints on the floor.

"Cortisia!" Wingdin chided, "Don't track snow into the house! How many times have I told you that?"

"Whoops," Cortisia gave a sheepish smile.

"What will you do without a brother like me?" Wingdin grumbled as he mopped up the mess. I offered to help, but he told me that he was the host so he had to do it.

Cortisia shoved a forkful of spaghetti in her mouth. "Sho hash Wing'in toll you 'bout da baby?"

Wingdin huffed. "I was supposed to tell them, Cor!"

Cortisia swallowed her mouthful of spaghetti. "Yeah, but you didn't tell them so I did."

"What baby?" I asked.

"The queen's!" said Cortisia, "When I met her I saw two souls instead of one and Daddy told me that that meant she was...prea...prig...pre...having a baby! And Wingdin was supposed to tell you today and that's why Moddy told me not to tell you about it yesterday but I was really excited today and I wanted to tell you about it and Wingdin hasn't told you about it so I did!"

Toriel and I stared at each other. Mother was pregnant? Why did she not tell us? Was Cortisia just messing with us?

Wingdin turned red. "I'm sorry! My parents told me to tell you and I was going to do that this morning but I wasn't sure when to bring it up and we got off topic so I forgot and uuuughhh..."

"It is okay," I told him. Then I thought about it for a moment. "Um...how does a monster get pregnant anyway?"

I have seen pregnant monsters before in my village, but I have never stopped to question how a baby comes to be. If only one monster has a baby, why are they related to other monsters as well? I did not really know how it all worked, and I did not really care, either. But now I will be a big brother soon, so I must know.

Wingdin looked confused for a second. Then he chuckled. "Oh yeah! You guys have a different education system in your village! We learned this stuff when we're nine, since almost every adult in this village is some kind of doctor, but I guess you guys wouldn't learn this stuff until much later. I suppose I, the Great Wingdin Gaster, will just have to fill you in!"

At that point Cortisia left, saying that if we were going to "learn things", then she wanted no part of it and that if it was important she'll learn it in school anyway. Wingdin spent the next hour or so explaining the entire process to us. I think I understand most of it.

So when monsters get older, they are able to temporarily share fragments of their soul with another monster that they love. (Wingdin says that it is different for different races, but most monsters can start doing it at age thirteen or fourteen. Boss monsters cannot do it until we reach our prime age of twenty.) Usually sharing your soul is supposed to make the monster you are sharing it with feel the love you feel for them, like a method of comfort. If two monsters share their souls with each other at the same time, though, they can create a new soul.

If the love that the two monsters feel for each other is romantic, (or in some cases, platonic but very strong) the two fragments of their souls will fuse into a premature soul. Without a body, that soul will be just strong enough to survive an hour or so before it disappears. If in that hour, one of the two monsters feels a strong burst of love for the other, the soul will inhabit their body and become a baby after growing in their parent's body for nine months.

Again, the length of time is different for everyone. Fish monsters and other egg-laying monsters only take about six months and spiders (even they technically are not true monsters) take only a week or so. For most monsters, though, pregnancy takes nine months.

"The part I did not understand," said Toriel, "is that monster souls cannot last without a body to inhabit. Why can the premature souls last for an hour before it disappears?"

Wingdin thought about that for a moment. "My parents said that premature souls have a slight red tinge to them but regular souls don't. Maybe that red tinge is some kind of property that keeps the soul intact?"

"How is the baby born then?" I asked.

"When the baby is ready to be born," Wingdin said, "the parent's body will flicker and lose its form temporarily to give birth to the baby. It's sort of like turning into dust, but it's only one part of the body and the dust is more solid. I guess it's less like dust and more like a glowing cloud of matter that someone can reach in and pull the baby out of. I know. It's weird."

Toriel winced. "That sounds painful."

"My dad told me it was," Winding replied, "Usually giving birth costs a monster about two to three hundred HP. It can be gained back, though!" he added after seeing our worried faces, "You just have to eat more and rest a lot."

I am a bit worried for mother, but I am so excited for my new baby sibling! Mother and Father are probably writing a letter to me to tell me the good news soon. I wonder if Toriel and I will be sent home when they are born. I hope the war is over by the time they are born. I do not want my baby sibling to grow up in the midst of a war.

He he! I just found out about them a few hours ago and I am already feeling protective! I wonder if Wingdin feels the same way about Cortisia.

I cannot wait to meet my new sibling. I love them already. We are going to be such a happy family.

~Asgore

 **So we finally know where Sans gets his puns from, huh?**

 **Remember, if you want to punch something multiple times, punch it with your front two knuckles. Punching something with your two back knuckles would result in a very bad bruise.**

 **Review!**

 **~Pandora**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi, everyone! Today is another long-ish chapter. Most of the chapters from here would be around this length.**

 **Kooda: ;)**

 **Here it is:**

August 25, 170 A.E.

Entry#7

We got letters from our parents!

Today Msr. Aster went to the post office on their way back from work and got two letters: one from my parents and one from Toriel's mother. Here. I will attach my letter to this journal:

My Dearest Asgore,

It has only been a few days, but we already miss you, my child. I certainly hope you are enjoying yourself in Aiphuoxbone. Your mother and I know that this must be a new and strange experience for you, but you will learn a lot from it. Don't worry. Toriel is with you and the Gaster family has a child close to your age. You might have already become friends.

Your mother has asked me to add that even though the curriculum in Aiphuoxbone is different from what you're used to, you will be expected to keep up with your classes. If you are having trouble keeping up in school, feel free to ask a teacher or another adult for help. You must try your best. You are a prince, after all.

We heard that the weather is frightfully chilly in Aiphuoxbone. Do remember to wear extra layers once the hail season is over. Skeletons don't feel the cold as much as we boss monsters do so the Gaster family might forget to remind you. If you see Toriel outside without a sufficient amount of clothing, tell her to go inside and get warm. We don't want either of you to be sick.

The war effort is going very well. We've sent messengers around all the major monster towns and villages. We should be able to get a sufficiently-sized army in two month's time. Don't worry though, Azzy. We shouldn't need to fight a lot. Your mother and I are confident that a few diplomatic trips will get the humans to call off the war. You and Toriel will be back with us before you know it.

Tomorrow I'll be off to the fish village of Flenin to oversee the training of the soldiers. Toriel's mother will be coming with me. Your mother will be writing the next few letters. I don't think I'll be gone long, though. The soldiers in Flenin have always been very capable.

You may be wondering why your mother isn't coming to Flenin with me. We have very exciting news for you. You're going to be a big brother, Azzy! Your mother will stay and rule from the capital until the baby is born. Mr. Gaban approached us the day you left and told us that your mother was pregnant. We didn't tell you while you were in town because we wanted to confirm it. Nevertheless, it's very exciting. We're sure that you'll be the best big brother you can be.

Not much has happened in the capital since you've left. After the attack on the Froggit village, more boss monsters have joined the army. Again, I don't expect us to fight much. Paz has been a friend to the monsters for decades. She will listen to reason. I expect the war to end very soon.

We miss you so much at home, Asgore. We can hardly wait until the war is over and you and Toriel can come home. If it's possible, we'll get you and Toriel to come home for the Angels' Festival in two months. (Maybe the war will even be over by then.) But maybe you don't want to come home for that. I heard Aiphuoxbone has its own ways of celebration that you might want to see.

I hope you have a wonderful time in Aiphuoxbone, and I can't wait until I see you again.

Love,

Father

I am thinking of getting Wingdin to tutor me on the things they learned in school. I wonder what a public school is like. I have always been taught privately by a tutor. There is a public school in my town, but I am a prince, so I need to learn different things. The biggest class I've ever been in consisted of me, Toriel, and my tutor.

I do not think the war will be over as soon as Father says, though. I heard Msr. Aster and Mr. Gaban talking about the war this afternoon. Msr. Aster got a request to join the army as a healer.

"Don't do this, Honey," Mr. Gaban was saying, "The kids need both their parents."

"They probably need me, though," Msr. Aster said, "You remember the stuff the adults used to say to us back when we were kids, right? It's a war, and people get hurt. They need healers like me."

"They should have sent for me too," Mr. Gaban said, "If you're going to war, I don't want you to go alone."

Msr. Aster smiled. "Nah. They know that we already have two kids and that we're taking care of two more. Leaving four kids alone in an unsupervised house is a bad idea and we don't want to give the neighbors too much trouble. They need you to take care of them. It's what you do best."

"I still don't think you should go," said Mr. Gaban, "It's a war against humans. They're dangerous and won't listen to reason. This war will go on for a long time. I don't want the kids to grow up without their parent."

"If I go, I'll come back during the holidays, and I'll write a letter whenever I get the chance," Msr. Aster said.

"So are you going to go?" Mr. Gaban asked.

"I might," Msr. Aster replied, "I'll think about it."

Wingdin and Cortisia would be so upset if Msr. Aster went out to take part in the war. Father said the war would not last long, but Wingdin's parents seem to think it will.

The war would not last too long, though. Father was right. Paz will listen to reason.

Won't she?

~Asgore

 **Remember that** **Technetium** **, while not being the worst, is a very bad element to wear as a hat.**

 **Review!**

 **~Pandora**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi, everyone! Here's today's chapter:**

September 1, 170 A.E.

Entry #8

Today was the first day of school. Wingdin, Cortisia, Toriel and I walked to the village schoolhouse. Wingdin said that the weather is better now that the hail season is over, so school is starting, but it feels even colder than before.

I suppose because skeletons don't feel the cold as much, this would be better than hail season. Wingdin and Cortisia went out with only thin jackets while Toriel and I had to bundle up in all the coats we brought. (Okay, it was only a few coats but it was still more layers than I have ever worn before.)

The teacher for our grade is a skeleton called Miss Helvetica. She seems really kind. She brought us all cookies for the first day of school and we played games all day.

"I understand that most of you in this class have known each other since you were very little," she said after she introduced herself, "and normally I won't bother with making everyone introduce themselves. This year, however, we will introduce ourselves as we have two visitors in our village and they will be going to school with you for their stay."

Everyone in the class turned to us. Toriel's face was red. I am sure that mine was redder. The kids have been staring at us since we came in. Toriel and I were both dressed in much thicker layers than all of them, and we obviously weren't skeletons. Of course we would look strange.

"As you know, children," Miss Helvetica said, "the monsters in the south have gone to war with the humans. This means some of the families there would want to send their children somewhere else to keep safe. This is Toriel, the daughter of the king's advisor." She paused for a moment as the people in the classroom whispered amongst themselves. "And this is Asgore, the prince of the monsters."

The other kids gasped and started whispering again. Miss Helvetica gave us an apologetic look.

"Anyway," she said, "I wish to say that I hope you will all be welcoming to Toriel and Asgore as this village is very new to them. I would like you all to take turns introducing yourself. Tell everyone your name and one fact about yourself. Who's first?"

Nobody volunteered. Then Wingdin slowly put up his hand.

"My name is Wingdin Gaster," he said, "and one fact about me is that Toriel and Asgore are living at my house."

The kids all stared at Wingdin incredulously. Miss Helvetica sighed with relief.

"How are you enjoying Toriel and Asgore's company, Wingdin?" she asked.

"Oh, Asgore is a _royal_ pain!" The class groaned. A few people snickered. Toriel burst out laughing. I got the feeling that Wingdin's jokes were not just something that happened at home. "He's so goofy," Wingdin continued, "but we get along pretty well, so I guess I'm _chill_ with it."

"I like Toriel, though," he said, "She actually finds _humerus_ in these jokes."

"What can I say?" Toriel said, giggling, "I tell jokes like a _boss_."

"Ayyyyy," Wingdin said.

"Ayyyyy," Toriel said.

The rest of the class introduced themselves after that. Miss Helvetica said that since it is the first day of school, we do not have to learn anything for the day. The next two weeks will be dedicated to review and after that we start to learn new things.

Miss Helvetica said that we will also be learning an extra subject this year-combat. She said that since the war has started, we all have to learn how to defend ourselves. Aiphuoxbone is a long way from the fighting, but we still all have to learn combat-just in case.

When we were walking home from school, I asked Toriel, "Why do we have to learn combat? Nothing has really happened since the incident at the Froggit village. Maybe the humans are just going to back off."

Toriel gave me a surprised stare. "Asgore, did your parents not tell you about the other attacks? The humans attacked three more villages before our parents wrote to us. They are teaching combat in school because they want the older kids to join the army. Skeletons have really strong attacks-you know that."

I shook our head. "But kids in school cannot join the army! You have to be at least eighteen to do that."

"Your dad is going to lower the age to fifteen," Toriel said, "He found out that Paz has taken over more villages than he originally thought. My mother told him that we need to increase the size of our armies, so he is going to."

Father never told me about the change in age for the army or about the attacks. Does he think we cannot take the news? I wish Mother and Father would tell me what is going on. Why can they not trust me like Toriel's mother trusts Toriel?

From now on, I'm going to get Toriel to tell me about the war.

~Asgore

 **Remember, you can't play in lava-it's no fun. You can only die in lava.**

 **Review!**

 **~Pandora**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi, everyone! The anniversary of Undertale was three days ago! I guess now we know what Papyrus's favorite food is now.**

 **Here's today's chapter:**

September 4, 170 A.E.

Entry #9

We got more letters today. Here. I will put mine in the journal:

Dear Asgore,

I have missed you so much! It seems like we haven't sent you a letter in so long! (Even though we just sent one a little more than a week ago.) It's very nice to write to you again.

In the last letter you wrote me, you asked about the war. Don't worry about the war, Azzy. There's nothing about the war that a child like you should worry about. We are holding up very well against the humans. I have requested to meet with Paz under a flag of truce several times to negotiate peace. I'm sure the war would be over soon.

Your tutor has been asking about how you're doing. I told them that you are having a wonderful time in Aiphuoxbone and you are adjusting to public school very well. I think they miss teaching you. I would suggest that you write a letter to them.

How is school going? We ordered every school in the monster kingdom to add combat to their curriculum. Don't worry. It's just for self defence. I doubt you'll ever have to use it on humans, but it is good exercise and a great opportunity to strengthen your soul.

I understand that you and the skeletons in your class have very different attacks. Your teacher will be teaching skeletons attacks, as she can't create the same kind of attacks that we do. I'd like you to pay attention to her lessons anyway, since you would do well to learn about the different kinds of attacks from other monsters. You and Toriel can spar together when your class is practicing. You teacher may have some suggestions for you from time to time, but mainly you would be on your own. You and Toriel will have to help each other out.

In your last letter, you asked me about your little sibling. Relax! It's only been two weeks since we found out. The baby isn't due until May next year. Who knows? Maybe they'll share your birthday!

I don't want you to be scared about the war, Asgore. We are doing everything in our power to keep you safe. Aiphuoxbone is the furthest village away from the fighting. The humans nearby keep to themselves, and Paz had never even visited there. The skeletons will protect you if anything happens, but they're so peaceful, no one would ever even have any reason to disturb that peace. You are safe, my child. I am so excited to read your next letter.

Love,

Mother

P.S: Tell Toriel I said hi!

So far, Miss Helvetica has just been giving us reviews on the stuff that we were supposed to learn last year. I can keep up with the math and language lessons just fine, and the social studies lessons are way easier than the stuff I learn at home, but I do not understand most of the stuff they learn in science. I know next to nothing about anatomy and there are too many different kinds of souls to keep track of. Who cares about how many monster souls is equal to one human soul? I will never need to use these things anyway.

We have already started our combat classes. Toriel and I already know some combat but everyone else is just starting to learn. No one has the same kinds of attacks as us, so we always spar together when the class is practicing. Miss Helvetica suggested that Toriel take off the necklace she got from her mother, since it might get damaged, but she refused.

"My mother gave this to me to serve as armor," she said, "Would it not help if I wore it during combat?"

I really hope my little sibling doesn't have the same birthday as me. I would like two birthday parties every year. I wonder why Mother hasn't announced the baby yet, though. My tutor said that when someone from the royal family announces that they are expecting a child, everyone gets a day off work and big towns have a festival.

I asked Toriel what her mother told her about the war. She told me that Mother and Father have declared an honor code among soldiers: soldiers are not allowed to take souls from fallen humans. She said that her mother was very against this idea, and she agreed. I was confused on why that is.

"The reason the humans declared this war is because they do not want monsters to take their souls anymore," I said, "Why give them more of a reason to fight?"

"If our soldiers have human souls, they would be more powerful in battle and less likely to die," Toriel said.

"But it is wrong!" I retorted.

Toriel glared at me. "This is war," she said, "Morals do not matter anymore. Our soldiers need every advantage they can get! What kind of leader values the souls of the enemy over the souls of their own?"

I stared at her in disbelief. Then I closed the curtain between us. I cannot believe her! A monster should not take a human's soul! I haven't spoken to her again today. Whatever. She'll talk to me again. She could never stay mad at me.

Mother is not telling me everything about the war! I know everyone thinks I am just a kid, but I am not a kid anymore! Twelve is old enough to know about these kinds of things! But Father and Mother never gives me the full details to how they are ruling monster kind. I wish they would tell me what's going on.

~Asgore

 **Remember to always stay determined, folks!**

 **Review!**

 **~Pandora**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hi, guys! Here's this week's chapter:**

September 10, 170 A.E.

Entry #10

Today Msr. Aster gathered us all in the living room and announced that they were going to join the war.

"I got a letter a few weeks ago asking me to be a medic for one of the troops," they said, "I've decided that I must help."

"So you're leaving?" Wingdin asked, his voice quivering.

"Yes, kids," said Mr. Gaban, "Madrone will be leaving. They won't be back until the Angel's Festival."

"You can't leave, Moddy!" Cortisia screamed and threw herself in Msr. Aster's lap. "I want you to stay and play with me and I'll miss you so much!"

Msr. Aster hugged Cortisia tightly. Their eyes looked shinier than usual. "I have to, Cortisia. It's my duty to protect the monsters. Don't worry. I'll be back in a month and a half."

"But you'll be gone again after a few days," Wingdin pointed out, staring at the floor.

"I'll write as many letters as I can," Msr. Aster promised, "I understand why you and your sister don't want me to go, Wingdin, but I think you understand why I have to."

"I know," Wingdin admitted, "Monsters are fighting in the war and getting really hurt, so it's your responsibility to help them. And...and..." He burst into tears and hugged his parent.

Msr. Aster squeezed both of their children tightly. "I love you both," they said, "and I'll miss you every moment I'm away from home."

Mr. Gaban joined the hug. "Stay safe," he said. Msr. Aster told him that they will.

Meanwhile, Toriel and I just stood there awkwardly and watched the Gaster family hug and cry. I didn't want Msr. Aster to join the war either, but I wasn't their son, so I wasn't sure if it was okay to hug them. I was sure Toriel was having the same train of thought. Then Msr. Aster asked us to join in.

"Your parents have asked us to take care of you guys," they said, "That means you're part of our family. Come and give me a hug."

Toriel and I stared at each other. Then Toriel started crying too and practically pounced on Msr. Aster. I gave in and hugged them too. The hug felt so warm...I have not hugged anyone like that since I said goodbye to Mother and Father.

Msr. Aster left after dinner tonight. Cortisia started crying so Wingdin picked her up and took her to bed. I think I hear him going to his room now.

I will miss Msr. Aster. I hope they will be alright.

~Asgore

 **Remember, invading Russia in the middle of winter is a very dumb thing to do.**

 **Review!**

 **~Pandora**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hi everyone! Sorry about the update being kind of late. I was on a camping trip yesterday and I still ache all over. Here's this week's chapter:**

September 15, 170 A.E.

Entry #11

Today we learned about different types of souls. We had just finished our reviews on Friday, so now we are learning new stuff. I think I understand how monster anatomy works now.

Miss Helvetica says that there are many different types of monster souls. The different types are unique in terms of strength of attack, level of magic, and how much damage it can take before it disappears. Some types are exclusive to certain races, but most are just determined by genetics.

Boss monster souls have a very high level of magic. Our attacks are weak on their own, but they are amplified with weapons. I guess that is why Father has his trident and Toriel's mother has her staff. Boss monster souls can take a very large amount of damage before it allows its body to die, and it will persist for over five minutes after death. No one knows why that is, but boss monsters are the only monsters whose souls can exist after death.

Skeleton monsters are descended from humans. A skeleton can be made with a fragment of bone from another skeleton monster and the bones of a human. There has not been a record of a skeleton made this way for a hundred years, though. Skeletons reproduce like all other monsters nowadays.

Miss Helvetica says that because skeletons are descended from humans, they also have a strong soul. Skeleton souls have extremely strong attacks and are able to dodge other attacks, but that is only the case if the skeleton fully means to destroy their opponent. If a skeleton does not mean to kill their opponent, their attacks would deal a lot less damage.

After death, a skeleton's soul would disappear, but their spirit would reside in the souls of other skeletons that remember them.

Human souls are strangely strong. They can only attack with weapons, but their attacks can do a lot of damage. Unlike monsters, humans only have about ten to twenty HP. The more they kill, though, they higher their HP is. Their soul is able to persist forever after they die. They do not usually last that long, though. A human is able to choose to be born into a new body after they die. Sometimes the soul gets absorbed by a monster.

"Why do human souls last after death but monster souls do not?" Toriel asked.

"Scientists think that it's because humans are mostly made of water, while monsters are made of magic," Miss Helvetica explained, "There is a special chemical in a soul that holds a monster's body together. They think that chemical is the same ingredient that allows a human soul to last after death. Humans have physical forms, so their soul doesn't have to use that chemical to keep their body together. This allows them to use that chemical to keep their soul intact after death."

"What is that chemical?" Wingdin asked. Miss Helvetica said that nobody knows.

"We are not even sure that this chemical even exists," she says, "This explanation is just a very popular theory. There is no way to prove that this explanation is true and even if it is, it's most likely impossible to isolate the chemical from the soul."

I like soul studies. It is interesting to learn about all the different traits of souls. Toriel says that it would not be of much use to us. When we grow up, we will be ruling over monsters. I do not think I will ever really need to work with actual souls. Why would a king have any use for souls?

~Asgore

 **Oh Asgore, if only you knew.**

 **Remember that Dirk Strider and Roxy Lalonde actually had a really sad backstory that not enough people are talking about! (Yes, I will rant to you about these two-or any Homestuck character really-if you PM'ed me.)**

 **Review!**

 **~Pandora**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hi everyone!** **Tomorrow** **is Thanksgiving in Canada, so I'd like to say I'm really thankful for everyone who's reading my story. You're great, guys.**

 **Here's today's chapter:**

September 18, 170 A.E.

Entry #12

Wingdin got in trouble at school today. Honestly, I do not think he deserved detention at all.

During lunch break, Cortisia found us sitting on a bench at the back of the schoolyard and ran to us crying. I noticed that her red scarf was gone and there were some scruff marks on her skull.

"Wingdin!" she wailed, "T-there were kids and they called me stupid a-and they took my scarf!" She sat down and started crying. Toriel went and hugged her.

"It is okay, Cortisia," she said, "We will get a teacher."

"No," Wingdin said.

I looked up. "What?"

"We're not getting a teacher," Wingdin said, "I'll get your scarf back, Cortisia."

He stood up and ran off. Then he stopped and ran back.

"Uhh, Cor?" he asked, "Who were the people that took your scarf?"

"Roman and Antiqua," Cortisia sniffed. Wingdin ran off again. Toriel and I watched him go.

"He is going to fight them, isn't he?" I asked.

"I think he is," Toriel said, "We should get a teacher."

When Miss Helvetica found Wingdin, he was pressing one of kids into a headlock. The other kid was sitting on the ground, crying. Cortisia's red scarf lay on the ground nearby.

Miss Helvetica was furious. After Wingdin, Roman, and Antiqua got back from the nurse's office, she gave them all a week of detention. When Wingdin came back from detention today, Mr. Gaban was angry with him as well. Toriel, Cortisia, and I watched from behind the living room wall as Wingdin was scolded.

"You are in a lot of trouble, young man," he said, "What have we said about fighting in school?" Wingdin told his father that he wasn't sorry at all and those children deserved what they got.

"He'll get in trouble!" Cortisia whispered to us, "Come on, lets help him!" She dashed into the living room. "Please don't be mad at Wingdin, Daddy! He was being bad but the kids he was fighting with were also being bad! They stole my scarf and he got it back!"

Mr. Gaban sighed. "I know he was helping you, Cortisia dear, but fighting is still wrong. You know you're not allowed to fight."

"But Moddy is going to war," Cortisia said, "and Asgore told me that war is where people and monsters fight each other. If Wingdin's wrong for fighting those bullies, then isn't Moddy wrong too? And if fighting is wrong, then why is Moddy doing it?"

Toriel glanced at me accusingly. "You told Cortisia what war is?"

"She asked me!" I shot back, "What was I supposed to do?"

Mr. Gaban probably could have pointed out all the errors in Cortisia's logic, but instead his glare softened and he smiled. "I guess I can't argue with that," he said, "You're off the hook, Wingdin. I hope you'll get a teacher the next time you're having issues with your peers. No more fighting."

Wingdin still has almost a week of detention left to go. I will miss walking home from school with him. Oh well. It is only for one week.

There is three weeks left until the Angel's Festival! I hope Mother and Father will let me go home for it.

~Asgore

 **I'd like all of you to read this chapter, remember it, then come back to it after the plot has advanced and cry over it. :)**

 **Remember, handheld sewing machines are super frustrating to use and most of the time it just tangles up the thread!**

 **Review!**

 **~Pandora**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hi everyone! Here's the chapter for this week:**

September 27, 170 A.E.

Entry #13

I do not like combat class at all. Our school teaches attacks that skeletons use. Toriel and I are boss monsters, so we can never do them. When the time comes for the class to practice, Toriel and I are left sparring with each other with our flame attacks. When we spar with skeletons, we always get beaten. Miss Helvetica says our magic is amplified if we have a weapon. I would love to have a trident like Fathers.

Today we had our combat class in a field outside of town. Miss Helvetica taught us a new attack. Of course, Toriel and I could not do it, but this time the rest of the class could not do it either.

"A skeleton's soul is very unique," Miss Helvetica said, "As you all know, skeletons don't entirely disappear after death. Their spirit will reside in the souls of other skeletons that remember them. You can use the power of their spirit to strengthen one of your attacks.

"Emotion, as you all know, has very strong effects on a monster's attacks. The stronger your feelings are towards the skeleton you're channeling power from, and the more clearly you remember them, the stronger your attack will be."

"I don't expect most of you to be able to use this attack. I sincerely hope you will not be able to use it until you're very old." She breathed in deeply. An elongated skull appeared. She waved her hand in one swift, quick motion. A beam of light shot out of the skull's mouth and obliterated a target about a hundred meters away.

"This is the blaster attack," Miss Helvetica said, putting her hand down, "You can only use it if you remember another skeleton that has died. You can only summon one so powerful if that skeleton was someone you loved very much." She smiled sadly. "You most likely won't know this, but my mother fell down a few decades ago."

She made the class attempt the attack. There were only about five people that could summon the blaster, and the blasters were all very weak. Miss Helvetica says that because we are so young, we would not have very clear memories of whoever died. Even if we did, they would not have been too important to us.

Meanwhile, Toriel and I were sparring. I do not think I am very good at controlling where my flames go. Toriel says that that means my opponent would be less likely to guess where the flames go and I would be more likely to hit my opponent.

I summoned a giant wave of flames. Toriel tried to dodge, but was hit several times anyway. Of course, when we spar, we always use attacks that do not deal a lot of damage. Toriel only lost about twenty HP.

"Good job, Gorey," she said as I healed her burns, "You should use that attack more often."

"It is very draining, though," I said, "I do not think I can use it more than a few times in a fight."

Toriel stared at the rest of the class as they tried to summon blasters. I knew who she was thinking about. Toriel's mom fell down about a year ago. She was so kind to me. I still really miss her, but Toriel must miss her even more. Her mom must have been on Toriel's mind the entire class.

I knew what she was thinking: if she were a skeleton, Toriel would have the most powerful blaster in the class. I'm not sure that would be a very good thing.

"Hey, Tori," I said "Are you okay?"

Toriel tensed and turned to me. "Yeah!" she said, "I am fine! Let's keep sparring."

I raised an eyebrow. I have known her my entire life. I could tell when she was not fine. I hugged her, and a few moments later she hugged me back.

"I am okay," she sniffed, "Really, Asgore."

"You know you can always talk to me," I said.

"I know."

I pulled back from the hug. "Are you sure you are okay?"

Toriel waved her hand. "Of course," she said, "I still have Mother, right?"

We sparred for the rest of the class. I beat Toriel several times. I am not sure if she was going easy on me on purpose, though.

I know she will be alright. Sometimes she just gets very sad over her mom but she always cheers up by the next day. I just wish I could help her more.

~Asgore

 **By the way this is all going to play into Toriel's character arc.**

 **Remember that it's not a good idea to do 16 pages of homework in one afternoon! (I am dead. Send help.)**

 **Review!**

 **~Pandora**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hi everyone! Today we have a fairly short chapter. Don't worry, though. The next three chapters will all be fairly long, and they'll also introduce a ton of plot points.**

 **I'd like to say something on the subject of leaving reviews. I'm grateful that I get so many views every time I post a chapter, but it's really discouraging to have only four reviews on a fourteen chapter story. Again, if I get five or more reviews on a single chapter, I'll post two new chapters the next time I update the story. Thank you!**

 **Edit: Apparently something glitched when I was posting the story that made a bunch of code appear. I think I fixed it. Thanks for giving me the heads up, DauntlessAngel11!**

 **Here's the chapter:**

October 2, 170 A.E.

Entry #14

I got a letter from Mother. She said that we cannot go home just yet. Toriel's mother told her that their troops were losing very badly. Several more villages were taken over by humans. Our parents do not think it is safe for us to return home yet.

I do not know when we will be allowed to go home. I miss Mother and Father. I miss my old room. I want to sit by the fireplace with Mother and Father and drink hot cocoa on the eve of the Angel's Festival.

Wingdin told me to cheer up. He said that Aiphuoxbone has a big dance festival every year. There will be good food and wonderful music. They don't have a parade like our town does, but everything else will be the same.

"Besides," he said, "I have a tradition I'd like to do every year. Don't tell my parents though. I'll be in a ton of trouble. A _skele-ton_.

""What is it?" I asked.

"It's a surprise," he said, "But if you don't want to go, you can stay. You're the _boss_.

I hope I will like the surprise. I wish I could spend the Angel's Festival with Mother and Father, though.

~Asgore

 **And that, my friends, is how things started to go downhill for young Wingdin Gaster and his village.**

 **Remember that something terrible is going on down in the States of the Americas that may or may not start with a D and end with a -Trump and I am actually scared for all of you!**

 **Review!**

 **~Pandora**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hi everyone! I have today's chapter. I noticed that I got two more reviews in the last chapter. Keep it up, guys!**

 **Kooda: Yeah I know that the story's kind of slow right now but it'll pick up in a few chapters. You'll get to see some actual battles.**

 **DauntlessAngel11: Thank you! And I fixed whatever was going on with chapter 14. You may have noticed that kid Toriel and Asgore aren't like their adult selves in certain ways. That's because I have some hardcore character development planned for them that made my friend scream so I'm looking forward to writing that.**

 **Today we introduce a very important plot point:**

October 18, 170 A.E.

Entry #15

Msr. Aster is back! They surprised us by coming home early this morning. Cortisia seemed so happy. To celebrate, Mr. Gaban made us all cake for dinner. He can bake really well.

Before we went to sleep tonight, I went to the kitchen for a glass of water. Msr. Aster and Mr. Gaban were still talking in the living room. Of course they were. Msr. Aster just came home. I am sure Mr. Gaban missed them.

"I don't know, Avebury," I heard Msr. Aster say; "The south is a mess. They need me now more than ever, but I feel like death is a much better fate than...that."

"Than what?" I asked. Msr. Aster and Mr. Gaban flinched.

"How long have you been listening, Asgore?" Msr. Aster asked.

I blushed. "I am so sorry! I was just getting a glass of water. I did not mean to eavesdrop! I was just curious!"

"He should know, Madrone," Mr. Gaban said, "He's the prince. He needs to know what's happening."

"Asgore," Msr. Aster asked, "would you like to know what's going on in the war?"

I said yes. Toriel tells me everything her mother tells her about the war because my parents never write about that stuff. I was sure that Toriel's mother does not tell her everything either. I cannot be sure that the Gasters will be completely honest, but it will be good to know.

"Asgore," Msr. Aster said, "You know what I do while working in the army, right? I help heal wounded soldiers. Usually it's just some battle wounds and lost HP. It's never pretty, but it's a war, so it's expected.

"A week ago, though, monsters started coming in with much more...creative wounds. Now, I won't get into detail about what they are, but they weren't made from combat. They were made from monster attacks. Most of these were soldiers that went missing weeks ago. Others were just regular civilians-children and such.

"We asked them where they got their wounds, and they told us that humans have been kidnapping civilians and putting them in these torture camps along with war prisoners. They tie the monsters up and torture them into giving information and sent a small fraction of their prisoners free and alive to tell the tale. They gave the prisoners one message to deliver-surrender."

When they saw my expression, Msr. Aster quickly added, "Of course, your parents aren't going to surrender. Who knows what the humans would do to us if we do. We'll just keep fighting until we get the humans to back off."

I stared at the ground for a long time. Paz is the leader of the humans. I never really liked her, but she was Father's best friend. She was a valued friend of the monsters. It was outrageous enough that she declared a war, but torture? Why would she do this? She and Father were childhood friends. They fought together, played together, grew up together.

They were so close, but now they hate each other. I am worried. If things turned out this badly between Father and Paz, would something happen between me and Toriel? What went wrong between Father and Paz? At what point does friendship turn into such strong hate?

"Asgore?" Mr. Gaban said tentatively, "Are you alright?"

"We shouldn't have told you all that, should we?" said Msr. Aster, "We know that you want to know about the war, and we know that your parents didn't want you to be scared. But you're a prince, Asgore. You need to know about affairs between humans and monsters. Your parents should be guiding you, but they're busy with the war. We are responsible for caring for you now, so we have to help guide you."

"Thanks for telling me," I said.

"If you think Toriel or Wingdin should know about this, tell us and we'll tell them," Msr. Aster said, "And if you need to talk about the war, or anything else you're worried about, we're always here."

"Remember to be careful around humans tomorrow, Asgore," Mr. Gaban added, "Now off to bed with you.

I cannot sleep. I keep thinking about what the humans are doing to the monsters. Why would someone make someone else hurt their own friends? I hope no one I know will ever have to be tortured like that.

I am glad that Msr. Aster and Mr. Gaban decided to tell me about all of that. It is nice knowing that they trust me with this information. But I cannot stop thinking about the torture camps. I'm scared that one day they will take me and put me in there.

Maybe that is why Mother and Father don't like to tell me anything about the war. They were probably afraid that I will be scared. I am scared. Maybe I was not ready for this kind of thing.

I suppose I will just have to wait. When I grow up, I will not be scared. I will know what to do when I become king and I will have plenty of time to figure out what to do.

After all, I will not be king for a long time.

~Asgore

 **Ahahahahahaha oh Asgore you're so optimistic.**

 **For all my readers who will trick-or-treat tomorrow, remember to bring a baseball bat to fend off the clowns!**

 **Review!**

 **~Pandora**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hi, everyone! Today, I will be posting not one, but two chapters! Remember when I said that if I get more than 5 reviews on one update, I'll post two chapters? Well, last week, I got NINE new reviews! Thanks, guys!**

 **Panakeia: The reason Wingdin's parents don't have the same last name but Asgore's parents do is mostly because Asgore's family is royalty. When Asgore's mother married his father, she changed her last name into Dreemurr because she was part of the royal family now. In this story, other monsters usually just keep their last names and choose one for their kids. Of course, there's also a lot of cultural differences between each race of monsters since monster kind have only been united for less than two hundred years. The skeletons, for example, combine their last names for their children, and that's why Wingdin and Cortisia have the last name Gaster. I'll show more examples of different naming systems later in the story when other races appear. (Hint: Undyne doesn't have a last name and neither does Muffet.)**

 **SnownyKatie: Actually, Msr. is a formal gender neutrual way of addressing someone! Msr. Aster is non-binary, which is why they have always been referred to as they and not she.**

 **Kooda: Your psychopathic soul will be satisfied.**

 **DauntlessAngel11: I am looking forward to writing it.**

 **Here's the first chapter for today, guys:**

October 19, 170 A.E.

Entry #16

Tonight was the Angel's Festival! I was disappointed that I didn't get to spend it with my parents, but the celebration here was so fun!

The music started at around three o'clock. People started to gather into the streets. Some started to dance. We have all helped with putting decorations around the houses in the past few days. A few adults hung lanterns onto the roofs and lit them. The town became a light show what with the shiny decorations reflecting light from the lanterns. It was beautiful.

Shop owners wheeled out little carts and sold food and toys. Cortisia told us that if we were really nice, some of the vendors will give us food for free.

"I don't usually get money," she said, "but Moddy and Daddy gives me money every year on the Angel's Festival to get food. I'd rather spend it on toys though. Wingdin always buys me food."

Most of the vendors we met gave us stuff for free. I asked one of them if it's really okay to not pay them. They didn't mind.

"It's okay, young prince," they said, "The Angel's Festival is a time for giving."

The skeleton on the fiddle started to play feverously. Skeletons gathered in town square and a few stepped into a spacey area and danced to the tune. Msr. Aster and Mr. Gaban linked elbows and spun onto the dance floor. Other people joined in. I recognized this dance: it was the square dance. It was very popular during dance parties.

Toriel grabbed my arm. "Dance with me," she said.

The tempo was a bit fast for what I was used to, but we figured it our fairly soon. We made our way to Wingdin and Cortisia and asked them to join us. At first Wingdin refused, saying he "can't dance", but Cortisia scoffed and dragged him onto the dance floor anyway.

"My big brother can do anything," she said to us proudly. Wingdin was very awkward, but most of the kids that danced were awkward. Not many kids our age danced, though, it was mostly the older teens and the adults. Some of the adults looked at us and chuckled good-naturedly. I heard one skeleton call us "cute". I suppose we are pretty cute.

The fiddle music slowed down after a while and turned into a soft, smooth song where the notes all flowed into one another. Some of the adults took each other's hands and started to do a dance that I recognized as the Waltz. I wasn't very good at that kind of dance, though, so I didn't offer to do it with Toriel. She didn't mind. We just put out hands on each other's waists and swayed to the music.

"This is nice," she said.

"Yeah," I replied, "The lights are so pretty."

"It is kind of funny," she said, "I never really saw the point in dancing to slow songs before, but this one is really good. I guess you have to try something to know if you like it." She leaned against me. I suddenly realized that I was half a head taller than her now.

Toriel and I danced for a little longer, and then we decided that we were both danced out for the night. I am waiting for Toriel to finish using the washroom so I can get cleaned up and head to bed. Tonight was very nice. I want to do that again sometime.

I suppose midnight has already passed. Hmm, I wonder if I should start a new entry for a

Oh! Wingdin just knocked and told us to get dressed. He says that he'll show us the surprise now, since his parents are asleep. I suppose we won't be going to bed, then.

~Asgore

 **The next chapter will be out in an hour.**

 **Review!**

 **~Pandora**


	17. Chapter 17

**Here's the second chapter for today, guys. It's a long one-nearly five pages on my Word document and more than two thousand words! Enjoy:**

October 20, 170 A.E.

Entry #17

Maybe it is not such a good idea for me to write down what happened last night. If anyone found out, we would all be in very big trouble. Then again, I shudder to think what would happen if we do not tell anyone about what we saw.

After Toriel and I put on our coats, Wingdin told us to follow him. It was so late at night, but I guess we went out then because everyone was asleep. I was a bit tired too. We had danced for most of the night. I did not say that, though, because I really wanted to see Wingdin's surprise.

We trudged in silence for a few minutes. Most of the lanterns have been put out by then, so it was mostly dark. It felt kind of creepy, actually. Wingdin brought a candle but he did not light it. He said the light might wake someone.

"If you are not going to light the candle, why did you bring it?" I asked.

"Shh," he said, "I'm going to light it after we get out of the village. Don't get all _fired_ up about it."

"Where are we even going?" Toriel whispered, "It is so late. Do your parents know we are here?"

Wingdin scoffed. "Of course my parents don't know we're here! Do you know how much trouble I'd get in if they did?"

After about ten minutes, Wingdin asked me to make a flame to light the candle. I did and realised that we were out of the village and in the thick woods. Wingdin grabbed our hands and teleported us away.

"What are you doing?" I shouted after we stopped moving, "You are not allowed to teleport that close to the village!"

"That's because if I did that during the day," Wingdin explained, "there would be too many other skeletons teleporting around and it would cause traffic issues. Teleporting into something hurts. But it's after midnight and everyone's asleep, so I can teleport wherever I want."

"What if other people follow this logic and you teleport into each other?" Toriel pointed out.

"Let's not worry about that," said Wingdin, "We're here!"

I noticed the glowing of torches from beyond the bush we were hiding in. When I looked harder, I realised that it was a village. There were a few people walking around the perimeter of the village carrying torches. They did not have fur or scales or horns of any kind. They carried spears and wore fluffy coats.

"They are humans," Toriel whispered, suddenly sounding terrified, "Wingdin, we cannot be around humans! You need to get us out of here!"

"Don't worry!" Wingdin whispered back, "They can't see us here. Besides, even if they saw us what would they do?"

"Attack us," I said.

"Kill us," Toriel said.

"Tell our parents about it," I said.

"Hold us hostage," Toriel said.

"I thought you said you liked humans!" said Wingdin, "That's why I brought you guys here!"

"I meant from far away!" she retorted, "We cannot be here, Wingdin. Monsters and humans are at war. If they find us, they'll attack us."

"This is not the south," Wingdin said, "The village here isn't taking part in the war. Look, I've come here every year since I was seven, and no one except for Cortisia has found out and nothing bad has ever happened to me. If you want to, we can leave, but I just wanted to show you guys something cool. It's totally safe, I promise."

Toriel rubbed the pendant on her necklace. "Are you sure they will not hurt us?"

"I'm sure," Wingdin said, "Trust me, it's going to be awesome!"

Besides the fear I felt for spying on the humans, it was not that exciting, to be honest. There were only a few humans out since it is so late. Toriel guessed that they were guards for the village. I could not think of a reason why the humans would need guards. They were not fighting against the monsters. It is the eve of the Angel's Festival. What kind of person would invade a village during the eve of the Angel's Festival?

I had never seen a human from this close before. Of course, Paz was around when I was smaller, but she did not carry the same air of intimidation as the humans in the village did. Paz had been friends with Father since she was a very small child. She was practically a monster. When she came to declare war, I was scared. Not because looked scary, but because she was talking about taking my family's souls. I had never seen her so mad before that night. These humans looked like they would kill any monster if they had a chance.

After a few minutes, some of the humans near the main entrance of the village tensed and pointed their spears. I gasped and almost cried out before I realised those spears were not directed at us. The humans were pointing at a group of people in ponchos heading towards them. A group of _humans._

A short human in a poncho stepped in front of the spears. She held out her hands and spoke a few words. The humans by the entrance of the village hesitantly lowered their weapons. Another human pushed through the crowd and the two humans started to talk.

Wingdin snorted. "Those humans come every year," he said, "They talk with the village chief and then they get chased off. I don't know what they're trying to negotiate, but clearly it's not working. You have to admire them for trying, though."

At that moment, the short human adjusted her stance, slightly. I gasped. I could see her eyes. They were blood red.

It was Paz.

Toriel realized it at the same moment I did. Wingdin turned away from the humans and glared at us accusingly.

"Are you _trying_ to get us caught?" he asked. I did not realize that we were being so loud.

"We need to get out of here," Toriel said.

"But my parents aren't going wake up for another few hours," said Wingdin.

"These humans will hurt us if they find us!" Toriel urged.

"But these humans come every year!" Wingdin protested, "They've never been a problem before."

"It does not matter!" Toriel said with frustration, "We need to go!"

"Maybe we should stay," I suggested, "We can see what they are up to. Come on, Toriel, it will be fine." Wingdin thought that we would be safe, so I thought I ought to trust him. Besides, being at this human village was so exciting, now that something was happening. I wanted to stay and watch everything play out.

"The whole reason we are staying at this village is to hide from the humans, Asgore!" Toriel yelled, "You are the prince and you will be king someday. It is time you start acting like a leader and stop being an immature child!"

I stared at her. She has never been this harsh with me before. Toriel's expression softened. She seemed like she wanted to say something, but she seemed to decide against it and turned away.

I knew that someday I was meant to be the king of monsters some day. I knew I would have to lead, but I had never actually thought about what leading meant. Toriel had always been the one telling me what to do. I never thought about the fact that I would be the one telling her what to do in the future. Angels, I am an immature child, am I not?

Wingdin poked his head out of the bush. "Guys?" he said, "The humans are looking this way!"

Toriel and I both poked our heads out the bush. A few of the humans were pointing at our bush and saying something. One of them tensed and shouted. Paz stalked towards us, gripping her spear tightly.

"Run!" Wingdin yelled.

"Just get us out of here!" I replied, stumbling out of the bush.

"There's too many branches here to make a clean shortcut," Wingdin huffed, "We need to get to a more open area."

The humans were starting to run towards us. I broke off into a sprint towards a small patch of meadow beyond the bushes, Wingdin and Toriel close behind. It was very uncomfortable, with all of my coats. My lungs kind of hurt. Wingdin slid into the meadow and grabbed our hands. One lurch later, we were back in Aiphuoxbone.

"Can we...never do that...again?" Toriel panted, "Please?"

Wingdin glared at her. "They saw us because you guys were being too loud! If you hadn't panicked, we could have stayed there much longer! Now we might get in trouble and it's all your fault."

We walked home in silence. Toriel was scowling and Wingdin would not look at me. Hopefully the whole thing will be over by tomorrow. Toriel almost never apologizes for things like this. She just goes back to being friendly to whoever she was mad at. I hope that Wingdin would apologize, or if he does not, I hope he would accept Toriel's lack of apology. They have never actually been mad at each other before. It would be awful if they kept being mad at each other.

When we got back, Wingdin went up to his room without a word. Toriel and I headed to our room as well. When I finished changing into my pajamas, I noticed the silhouette of Toriel sitting on her bed. She looked deep in thought.

"Toriel?" I asked, "Can I talk to you?"

Toriel sighed. "I should not have said those things to you," she said, "I want you to know that I think you would be a wonderful leader and I will do everything I can to help you be a good king when we grow up."

I pushed open the curtain. Toriel did not stop me. She moved over and I sat with her on her bed.

"Honestly, I think some of the things you said were true," I said, squeezing one of her pillows, "I am immature. I have never really thought about what would happen if I were king."

"You will be a great ruler," Toriel assured me. It sounded like an empty statement, though, like something she would say to anyone in my position to make them feel better. "And whatever happens, I will also be there to guide you through that."

"I do not want to be king," I said, "That would mean that Mother and Father would have to die. I do not want them to die. I wanted things to just stay the way they were."

Toriel bit her lip. "I wish that could happen, Asgore," she said, "but you know we have to grow up some day."

"But hey," I said, "We would not have to worry about that stuff for years and years, right? When we grow up, we will be ready."

Toriel sighed. "I do not think so, Asgore. We need to start taking responsibility for things now."

"Do you know what my mother said to me the day we left for Aiphuoxbone?" she said after seeing my frown, "She said, 'By the time the war is over, you might have to take over my responsibilities, Toriel. You will be the royal advisor one day, and that means you have to protect your king with your life.'"

I sighed. Toriel's mother was very obedient to her duties. "Your mother will be fine," I said, "She took down an entire human squadron once for Paz's army. We will all make it out of this alive and well and neither of us will have to deal with any duties for years. I know it."

Toriel looked away. "You know how your grandparents came into power, Asgore. Their parents died in the monster civil war and your grandparents ended it. Mother told me that when wars happen, parents die and children will have to end the war for them. I do not want to fight in a war. I just want to have a peaceful life with a peaceful reign."

"Well," I said, "Whatever happens, when I become king, I will need an advisor. We can make sure that our reign will be peaceful."

I held out my hand. "Wherever we go, we go together."

Toriel shook my hand. "Together."

I wanted to ask Toriel about Paz as well, but we were both very tired, so we agreed to go to bed. I think Toriel is asleep now, but I am not. For some reason, once I got into bed, I could not fall asleep. I have conjured up a very dim flame to see the words on this page. Maybe I should go back to bed.

~Asgore

 **Haha Paz you try too hard.**

 **By the way, the reviews=double update thing still stands, but this time I'm cranking the number up to 15.**

 **Remember that now that Halloween's over, it's officially Christmas! (Or** **Hanukkah** **, or** **Kwanzaa** **, or whatever your culture celebrate at this time of year.)**

 **Happy holidays!**

 **~Pandora**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hi, everyone! Here is today's chapter. I'm pretty proud of this one. I'm pretty sure that everyone will get what everything symbolises but it's still fun to watch the characters try to figure it out, right?**

 **Panakeia: Asgore and Toriel are not in an arranged marriage, even though that probably is a thing in the monster world. I might reveal the reason why if I get a chance in this story. If you're wondering about this because of the "we'll have a peaceful reign together" line, Asgore was referring to their reigh as king and advisor. If you're talking about the whole dance scene, that's just Toriel and Asgore being awkward twelve year olds who have no idea what subtlety means.**

 **DauntlessAngel11: It will get much worse. Trust me.**

 **Anyway, here's the chapter for today:**

November 5, 170 A.E.

Entry #18

I had the strangest dream last night. I do not usually record my dreams, but I think this one may have been prophetic.

I was in a field of red flowers. Two kids I did not recognize played in the field. They were making chains of flowers and placing them on each other's necks. One child was a boss monster. The other was human. They looked about eight years old.

I approached them. They did not pay attention to me, but as I got closer I noticed more details about them. The human child wore a poncho and had a spear lying beside her. The monster child wore a gold crown and had a trident lying beside him. He looked like me, but not quite.

The monster child took a red flower and ripped a heart shaped petal from it, rubbing the soft velvety petal between his fingers. Then he ripped another. Then another. The human child looked up in outrage and attempted to snatch the flower from him. For a few moments, they grappled. Then the human child ripped the flower from the monster child's hands, tearing several of the petals in the process. She turned away. The monster child crumbled into dust.

I yelped and ran towards them, but the dust rose and shifted back into another child. The red flowers turned yellow. When the two kids turned around, they looked different. They wore matching green and yellow sweaters. They each had a heart-shaped locket hanging from a metal chain around their neck. The monster child still looked like me, but he was not the same child from before.

I took another step forward, and they finally seemed to notice me. The monster child laughed and spread his arms out for a hug. The human child smiled and buried their face into the bunch of flowers they have picked.

"Monsters should not suffer in the hands of humans," the human child said, their voice muffled by the flowers.

"I will help you," the monster child said, "I am the prince of the angels."

The two kids looked at each other and said in unison, "We will free us all."

The golden flowers started to spread up their bodies. The human child sat there calmly and let the blossoms grow. The monster child, however, started to panic. He tried to tear away from the vines and leaves, screaming sounds that were inaudible to me. It did not work. For every flower he ripped off his body, three grew in their place. I tried to help, but no matter how much I ran, I could not reach them.

The blossoms eventually covered both of the kids and withered away, leaving nothing behind. Then, in the human child's place, another human child appeared. Instead of a green and yellow sweater, this child had a blue and purple one. A bandage peeked out from the collar of their sweater and they held a stick. They squinted so much I couldn't see their eyes. They were covered in bruises and cuts.

"Are you alright?" I asked. The child flinched and waved their stick around before realizing who was talking to them. They burst into tears. They looked so sad. I could not help but wrap them in a hug. Immediately they hugged me back.

Suddenly, white-hot pain seared through my chest. I pushed the child away and felt blood trickling down my body. I looked at the child again. Their stick had turned into a dagger. They opened their eyes and gave me a wide smile. Their eyes were bright red. Just like Paz. Moments later their eyes widened in shock and they reached out to me in despair. No matter how hard they tried, they could not reach me.

As I felt myself crumble to dust, I woke up. I gasped and clutched my chest and lay in my bed shaking for what seemed to be hours before I realized that I was not dying.

I suppose it is already the next day, although it will not be morning for another several hours. I should really get to sleep again if I do not want to fall asleep in class, but after that dream, I do not think I _can_ fall asleep again.

I am writing by a very small flame that I have conjured. Even though we are separated by a curtain, if my side of the room gets too bright, I will most definitely wake Toriel up.

Mother once told me that normally the faces in your dreams are all faces you have seen before. The only time where that is not the case is when you are having a prophetic dream, where the dream predicts the future.

I did not recognize any of the children I saw in my dream, although I think now they will be seared in my mind forever. (If not all of them, then at least the child who killed me-I will _never_ forget the face of the child who killed me.) This was most definitely a prophetic dream. These kinds of dreams need a lot of deciphering. I do not know what any of this dream means, although maybe Toriel can help me figure it out. I suppose I should tell her in the morning.

Toriel is stirring. I think it's all the light. I will put off the flame now and try to go to sleep.

~Asgore

 _ **Everything in history is the start of an echo in the future, and everything in the future is an echo of something in the past. You may scour your history books in search of these echos and try to end them. But no matter how much you try, those who participate in history will always be doomed to repeat it.**_

 **Remember that ideally, four inches of concrete is usually enough to shelter people from the fallout of a small atomic bomb!**

 **Review!**

 **~Pandora**


	19. Chapter 19

**Hi everyone! Today there's a slightly shorter chapter. Right now it's just the calm before the storm.**

 **Panakeia: The red flower petals represent human souls, since in the game, the soul we most commonly see (Frisk's) is red, so I went with that. They yellow flowers just represent the yellow flowers that Asriel and Chara liked so much.**

 **DauntlessAngel11: I want this story to fit all the timelines, so here we are!**

 **Here's today's chapter:**

December 1, 170 A.E.

Entry #19

Toriel got a letter from her mother today. Another town has been captured by the humans. The humans are not killing everyone in the village anymore. They kill the leaders of the village and make the regular civilians work for the humans.

I uncomfortably recalled the torture camps that Msr. Aster mentioned. "What do you mean, 'work for the humans?'" I asked.

"Well, the monsters are put into factories to make weapons and other supplies for Paz's armies," Toriel said, "Others are forced to channel their magic into human machinery."

"Machinery?" I asked, "What is that?"

"It is a tool that has a lot of parts and does bigger portions of the work than regular tools, I think," Toriel said, "Mother says that Paz had signed a treaty with the humans from the other side of the ocean. Those humans are making a lot of machines that do a lot of things, but they need fuel, so I think the humans are fueling their machines with monster magic.

"I asked my Mother about that village of Tsunderes that was captured a few weeks ago, and she replied that the humans were using them to figure out how to fly." She sighed. "They should have at least used monsters that actually had wings."

I wish my parents would be as honest with me as Toriel's mother is. I have long since given up asking them about the war. They always ignore my questions and tell me that the war would be over soon. According to the things that Toriel's mother has written, I fear that the war would end soon, but we would not be on the winning side.

Perhaps monsters also need some machines. When I become king, I will invest in some scientists that would build some great machines.

~Asgore

 **I think you have already met one of your two best scientists, Asgore. You won't meet the other one until centuries after the war, so don't rush yourself.**

 **Remember, Lapis and Peridot are two vegetarian immigrant hippies who are living a happy life on their lovely vegetable farm and no amount of racist uncles are going to change that.**

 **Review!**

 **~Pandora**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hi everyone! Here's today's chapter:**

December 18, 170 A.E.

Entry #20

Today in class we learned about the origins of skeleton monsters.

Hundreds of years ago, a powerful human magician lost their entire village in a flood. Heartbroken, they gathered everyone's bones and casted a spell. The first skeleton monsters were created, but they did not share any of the memories that the magician had of them. The magician threw themself into a hole in the mountains in despair. Humans and monsters alike had heard wailing from the hole for generations afterwards.

When Miss Helvetica finished the story, the class seemed distraught, and I could guess why.

"Now, class," Miss Helvetica said, "This is just a legend passed down from generation to generation for hundreds of years. No one knows if it's actually true or not."

Wingdin raised his hand. "Do we know if humans can actually create skeletons though?" he asked.

"We don't know that," Miss Helvetica said, "But skeletons can create new skeletons from humans."

Miss Helvetica explained that a baby skeleton monster can be made with the corpse of a human and dust from another skeleton monster. There is a special process where you have to fuse the dust to the body and put enough magic into it that it becomes tangible to turn into a monster. It was honestly kind of gross.

"Creating a new skeleton monster this way has been illegal since the end of the Civil War," Miss Helvetica said, "To get the dust of a skeleton monster, one would have to kill another skeleton, or give up a fragment of their own bone, like the center of their palm, which is extremely painful and unethical. To get a human corpse would mean killing a human or digging one up from a grave, which would damage the unsteady alliance that humans and monsters used to have. Skeletons are able to reproduce like other monsters anyway, so there really is no need for this method."

After school Wingdin and I agreed on how weird that lesson was. I understand that we should learn about the history of skeletons, but I do feel kind of squeamish.

"Honestly, I'm not saying that I'd make a skeleton like that even if it were legal," Wingdin said, "But if I did, then I would make two. Having a hole in one hand and not the other would just feel weird."

"Golly, I hope you never make a skeleton that way," I said, "I know that I'm keeping it illegal."

"I won't do that. Human corpses? That's just disgusting. Not to mention it would probably hurt a lot for me." Wingdin chuckled, "If I were to cut my palms out and put it in a human corpse, I would have to be very _bonely_."

~Asgore

 **By the way, I welcome any theories that you guys send my way about this story. I spent a lot of effort putting a ton of foreshadowing in here and I would be disappointed if no one tore into every single word trying to find a hidden meaning.**

 **Remember that Moana has an after credits scene so if you're planning on seeing it, don't leave until the end!**

 **Review!**

 **~Pandora**


	21. Chapter 21

**Hi everyone! Sorry for the late update tonight, but I was having a bad week and writing was slow.**

 **This chapter is probably the last short chapter in a while. I suppose you can say that this is the calm before the storm?**

 **DauntlessAngel11:*cough*I can neither confirm nor deny your statement, though I would like to direct your attention to Papyrus's scarf.*cough***

 **Panakeia: If people ask me enough times I will write another thing about Wingdin set a few decades before the events of Undertale.**

 **Here's the chapter:**

January 1, 171 A.E.

Entry #21

Today marks the first day of a new year! The past year has been stressful for me, and I'm not even fighting in the war! Hehehe.

So much has happened in the past year. The war was started, and so many monsters died. Toriel and I were sent away from home, which I was not very happy about. It was, however, great to live in this new village full of new monsters. I am so happy that I met Wingdin as well. Toriel and Wingdin seemed to have made up, but they still seem kind of cold towards one another. Hopefully this will all change in this new year.

My wish for this year is that the humans and the monsters will agree to live in peace again. Aiphuoxbone is a wonderful place, but I would love to go home soon. I will also study up on how to become a king. I know I do not have to become a king for a long time, but it never hurts to be prepared, does it?

I already know that so many wonderful things are going to happen in the new year. My baby sibling will be born and I will be a big brother. This year, I will turn thirteen. I will finally be a teenager! Perhaps then I would be considered old enough for my parents to confide in me.

This year will be a good year. I can just feel it!

~Asgore

 **And so begins the 2016 of monster history.**

 **Remember that if you build a pipeline near the BC coast, endangered orcas WILL die.**

 **Review!**

 **~Pandora**


	22. Chapter 22

**Hey, everyone! I have finally recovered from my cold! Good thing, too. I get to read your angry comments about this chapter in time for Christmas! Here's today's chapter:**

January 15, 171 A.E.

Entry #22

Father is dead.

Today Msr. Aster came home and told us the news. My father and Toriel's mother died in an ambush in the south. When we heard the news, Toriel just stood up and went back to her room without a word. She was clutching her necklace so tightly I was afraid that she might choke herself with it.

Wingdin and Cortisia had to go to school, but Msr. Aster and Mr. Gaban are letting Toriel and I skip school for the next week or so. We were both in shock, they said, and we needed time to recover. I agreed, mainly because I do not think either of us will be ready to face our classmates today if we went to school.

Maybe it is not good for me to feel this way, but I do not believe that Father is really gone. Maybe this is just a practical joke that he and Toriel's mother and the Gasters are playing on us. Maybe tomorrow when I wake up, I will be in my bed back in my own town and none of this would have happened.

But...why would Father trick me into thinking he is dead? He would not do that. He loves to play funny jokes on me, but this joke is not very funny.

And Toriel's mother is always so serious. If Father was to agree to this joke, Toriel's mother definitely would not. She knows how torn up Toriel was after her mom died. She would not let her lose another parent if she could.

Oh, Angels.

 _Toriel._

I feel so selfish, only thinking about myself. Toriel's mom died a little more than a year ago, and now she has lost her mother too. At least I still have my own Mother. Toriel is now an orphan. She does not have any other parents left.

I have been writing this outside our bedroom for the past half hour. Toriel was in there, and I felt that she wanted some time alone. She has not uttered a sound since she went in. I hope she is okay.

Maybe I should check on her. After all, I am one step closer to being a king, am I not? A king should put his people before himself. I need to stop moping around and make sure Toriel is alright. When I become king, that kind of thing will be the most important thing I do.

Father is dead, so Mother is now completely in charge of the kingdom. When mother dies, I would become king. It is strange. I have always been excited to be king. My parents would have to die, I knew that, but I had never thought about what it means.

I can never see my father again. I can never feel his tight furry hugs or taste his awfully cooked tarts or tackle him in the hall as he is passing by again. When I go home to the capital, if I ever go home, he will not be there to welcome me back. I will only have the memories I have of him now to remember him by. But when I get older, my memories of him will become fuzzy and

I cannot write on. I must go see Toriel.

~Asgore

 **I mean, everyone saw it coming, right? Like it's a war. It was bound to happen from the beginning. It's a special chapter next week, when we see how Toriel's doing.**

 **Remember to enjoy yourselves during the holidays and treat others well!**

 **Review!**

 **¬Pandora**


	23. Chapter 23

**Hi everyone! Today marks the first day of 2017. Let's hope it doesn't suck as much as 2016 because come on, Princess Leia? Really?**

 **DauntlessAngel11: Oh the feels train hasn't even STARTED moving, buddy. You have no idea.**

 **I've been waiting to write this chapter ever since I started planning this story. Enjoy:**

January 15, 171 A.E.

Entry # 23

Asgore gave me this journal because he says it will soothe my feelings to write them down. I am doubtful that writing in this journal will do anything to stop this turmoil, but Asgore meant well, so I will try.

This morning, when Msr. Aster returned, I was overjoyed. I have missed them deeply, and it was wonderful to have them back. But I hadn't expected the heavy news that they brought with them.

I loved Mother. She was strict and very serious about her responsibilities, but she loved me and raised me well. After Mom fell down the year before the last, Mother was the only family I had left. Now she is gone, and I am still here. I looked forward to the prospect of leaving home and living without my parents, but not like this.

I do not know how long I stayed in my room, moping, but it seemed like forever. Everything was a blur for a long time. I was only aware of myself and the necklace Mother gave me. It seemed like so long ago since I had seen her. And now I will never see her again.

When Mother spoke to me when I was leaving for Aiphuoxbone, I did not know that it would be the last time I'd ever see her in person. She gave me a new necklace for armor, and when I checked it in August, it only had one defence point. I checked it again when I came into my room this morning. It now has one hundred.

I can only assume that the reason the necklace is so strong now is because of my feelings towards Mother. I have worn it every day for my entire time at Aiphuoxbone. It must be full of sentimental value by now. And now that Mother is gone, it's the most important thing I have left of her.

Why would Mother give it to me as armor, though? It would have made more sense at the time to gift me with a family heirloom. There would be generations of sentiment on such a thing. She could not have known that that meeting with her was going to be our last. Did she?

Asgore came in after a while and snapped me out of my thoughts. He did not say anything at first. He just set his journal on my nightstand and took a seat on my bed beside me. I glanced at him tentatively, but he did not meet my eye. We just sat in uncomfortable silence for a long time.

I felt terrible. I had been so busy minding my own troubles to think about how Asgore was feeling. He loved his father dearly, and idolized him too. Surely he was just as devastated about his father as I am about my mother.

"What are we going to do?" I sighed. I was an orphan now. Asgore's mother will surely take me in, but as soon as I turn twenty, I would have to be her royal advisor.

"I do not know," Asgore sniffed, "I hate this war. I hate the humans." He leaned on my shoulder. Judging from his ragged breaths, I assumed he was crying.

I would love to cry. Maybe it would release this awful feeling in my soul. But I could not cry. I was too numb to. Besides, crying would make Asgore even more upset. I was going to be the royal advisor in a little more than seven years. Royal advisors do not cry, even if their princes did.

"When I become your mother's advisor," I whispered, "I will make sure every human is wiped off the face of this world."

Asgore lifted his face from my shoulder and stared at me with a fearful expression. He started to say something, but seemed to decide otherwise. It does not matter what he thinks of that right now. He will agree to this someday. I have a feeling he will.

He took the journal on my nightstand and handed it to me. "Write in it," he said, "You will feel better." I gave a small grunt in thanks and Asgore headed to his side of the room without another word and drew the curtain between us.

I have delayed writing in this journal for the whole day and had instead opted to lie on my bead and stare at the ceiling. It was mainly because I did not think writing in the journal for half an hour improved Asgore's mood in any way. He seemed to be in a worse off emotionally than I was after writing in the journal. After all, I was not the one who bawled into a pillow for an hour after our talk.

Right now, Asgore and the Gasters are having dinner. I have decided to skip dinner. I am not hungry at all. I am rather nauseous, in fact. Staring at a ceiling could only entertain your thoughts for so long before they become unbearable. I felt so numb and empty. There really wasn't any way I could feel worse about anything, so I gave into the temptation and wrote.

I am sorry, Asgore. I really am. But I do not think this journal has improved my mood in any way. I still have that awful empty feeling in my gut. I do not think I will keep writing here.

~Toriel

 **And that, dear readers, is called clinical depression.**

 **Remember that Carrie Fisher drowned in moonlight, strangled by her own bra. (She actually said she wanted this on her obituary in an article, but in all seriousness, may she rest in peace.)**

 **Review!**

 **~Pandora**


	24. Chapter 24

**Hi, everyone! Winter break ended for me last Sunday so now I'm going to school again. I'm in high school now so there's this annoying thing every semester called final exams. I'm going to have to spend most of my time this month studying, so I don't think there will be a lot of time for me to write. This means there won't be a new chapter next week or the week after that, but there will be a new chapter on the 29th.**

 **Here's today's chapter:**

January 17, 171 A.E.

Entry #24

Mr. Gaban came to our room today with a letter from Mother. She wants us to pack up and move back to the Capital by next week.

"Thank you for taking us in," I told him. "It has been wonderful."

"Thank you for being such good guests," Mr. Gaban replied, "But you two won't leave for another three days. Let's not say goodbye just yet."

I cannot wait to see Mother again. She has a way of making me feel better about everything, no matter how bad the situation is. She is no doubt calling us back because she wants to make Toriel and I feel better.

Toriel probably will stay with Mother and me when we get home. It will do her some good to be home again. She has been even more down than me, not that I blame her. But she has not eaten anything for at least three days. Honestly, I am very worried about her.

I think I did a very good job on packing my things today. Most of it is in a large bundle of cloth now. I will probably finish packing by tomorrow. Toriel, however, has not started.

"Are you going to start packing your things?" I asked Toriel after dinner. As usual, she did not join us. She had been in bed since yesterday, but I knew she was not asleep.

"Mmph," Toriel replied. She pulled her blanket over her head and faced the wall.

"We are leaving in three days," I said, "Maybe you should start packing."

"Mmph," she said again.

"I am so excited to go home," I continued, "Are you?"

"Mmph."

I do not know why I got so angry at that. That has been her response to everything I said for the past two days. Nevertheless, I was furious.

"Look," I said, "I know you are upset, okay? But can you stop being so selfish and talk to me for once? I am upset too! You are not the only one who's lost someone! But at least I am trying to be happy! You are just moping around and being useless! Stop being such a frustrating jerk!"

Toriel did not say anything. I choked back a sob and left the room, slamming the door behind me. As soon as I left, I regretted it. I wanted to go back and apologize, but she definitely would be mad at me.

I was stuck outside. It was not like I could go back to my room and keep packing my things because I would have to pass through Toriel's side of the room first. She probably did not want to see me. I sat outside the door and buried my face in my hands. Why did I snap like that? Toriel and I both have things hard enough for us without me getting angry at her. I have already lost my father. I do not want to lose my best friend, too.

"Hey," someone said, stepping in front of me. I looked up. Wingdin was there with a tray of food, probably for Toriel. "What are you doing here?

I do not know why, but that made me burst into tears. "I messed up," I sniffed. Wingdin sat beside me and listened as I explained how much of a jerk I was being to Toriel.

Wingdin twiddled his thumbs. "I'm not the best person to ask about this," he said, "but I honestly think you should just apologise. Toriel understands how you feel. She'll forgive you if you apologise well enough."

"You think she will?" I asked.

"She's smart," Wingdin said, "I can tell you're really sorry about what you said, so she probably will, too. Besides, you've been friends your whole lives. She wouldn't let one small disagreement ruin your entire friendship, would she?"

I smiled faintly. "I suppose so. Thanks, Wingdin."

"You're welcome!" he said, "Also can you send this food to Toriel? Dad says she should eat, but I'm too lazy to walk all the way in your room. It'll save me the trip."

I took the tray. I knew that even though Wingdin felt sorry for us now, he was still trying to avoid Toriel. They were still mad at each other for what happened on the Angel's Festival. They have stopped ignoring each other completely, which was a relief, but they still do not talk with each other a lot. Toriel does not usually hold grudges with me, but she does like to hold grudges with others. I just hope they will go back to being friends before we leave Aiphuoxbone.

Balancing the tray on one hand, I gently knocked on the door. There was no response, and I did not expect there to have been, either. I stepped in the room and set the tray on Toriel's nightstand, then I sat on her bed. Toriel squirmed and I realized I was sitting on her foot.

"Sorry!" I said, deciding to stand instead. "Toriel, I am really sorry about what I said before. I guess I was frustrated, and I may have said some things I regretted. I do not think you are selfish at all. You are just sad, and I understand that. I understand why you are sad, and I want to help. Please do not be afraid to ask for help."

We were both silent for a long time, then Toriel slowly slid out of the bed and hugged me tightly. I realized that Toriel probably has not gotten a hug from anyone since we found out about our parents. She had been in our room for several days and did not talk to anybody. Golly, I was such a bad friend.

I started crying again. It was annoying how much I cried the past few days, but I suppose it does make me feel better afterwards. Maybe Toriel should have a good cry. It might make her feel better, too.

Toriel did not cry. She just held me while I did. After a while she let go and sat on her bed.

"I-I think I will start packing," she said quietly.

"Are you going to be alright, Tori?" I asked.

"I do not know," she replied, "I suppose we both need time."

With that, she gently ushered me to my side of the room and drew the curtains. I heard shuffling on her side of the room, but it soon stopped. I peeked at her through a gap between the curtains, and saw that Toriel had gathered some of her clothes and put them on a chair. She was in bed again, and I did not think it was because she needed sleep.

I guess Toriel was right. We are still both upset from losing our parents and it will take a long time before things can go back to normal again. Or perhaps things will never go back to normal again. Father was a part of my normal life. Now that he is gone, I cannot have a normal life again.

But perhaps Toriel and I can accept that with time. Maybe we can make a new life for ourselves without my father or Toriel's mother. I do not think we would be used to such a life right now. I still cannot imagine what life back at the capital is going to be like without Father. But maybe in time, we will both be okay.

We must have all our stuff packed and ready to bring home in two days. My stuff is almost ready, but Toriel has barely started. Tomorrow I will help her pack. It is a king's responsibility to help his subjects, and it is a friend's responsibility to help his best friend.

I must be strong. I must be strong for Mother and Toriel and all of the monsters in the kingdom who have lost their king. I am the prince of this world's future, so I am responsible for making sure everyone is content.

And I suppose I will start by helping Toriel.

~Asgore

 **To any of you wondering if Toriel's okay: no she isn't.**

 **Remember that the equation of a slope is y=mx+b and also that unless you're looking for a career in mathematics, this equation is all but useless in real life!**

 **Review!**

 **~Pandora**


	25. Chapter 25

**Hi, everyone! So exams are finally over, and while I am basically braindead, I had to keep my promise about the update. Here it is:**

January 20, 171 A.E.

Entry#25

I am writing this in my own room in the Capital. We are finally home! Aiphuoxbone was wonderful, and I had fun with Wingdin, but I missed home. I missed my parents and the familiar smell of my own room and all the busyness in the Capital. I know Father would not be there anymore, but there was still Mother. It was so exciting to see Mother again.

We left a few hours before dinnertime today. Msr. Aster and Mr. Gaban let us say goodbye to everyone. Toriel and I will probably visit Aiphuoxbone again someday to learn about being good rulers, but I knew that that would not happen for another several years. This was probably the last time I will see Wingdin and Cortisia for years.

"You'll write, won't you?" Wingdin said. He and Cortisia were walking with us out of Aiphuoxbone so their parents can teleport us back. They won't be coming with us, since Cortisia cannot teleport that far and Wingdin had to watch Cortisia. They did not want to say goodbye so soon, though, so they were walking out of Aiphuoxbone with us.

"Of course we will," I said, "And you will write to us too, right?"

"Yes!" Wingdin said, "I mean, I'm sure life in the Capital is much more interesting and I'm sure you don't want to hear me talking about my homework all the time but of course I'll write!" His face fell. "I'm going to miss you guys."

"We are going to miss you too," said Toriel. Wingdin glanced at her in surprise. She had barely spoken a word to him since we found out about our parents. "Thank you for being our friend." Wingdin smiled, and I realised that that whatever conflict had been going on between Toriel and Wingdin had been forgiven on both sides.

"Why are you guys leaving?" Cortisia asked, wrapping and unwrapping her hand in her red scarf. I remembered that no one told her about our parents. Cortisia was only five. She would not understand death anyway. "Daddy said you would stay for a while."

"The queen wants us back at the Capital," I said, "She misses us."

"Why can't she visit here, then?" Cortisia asked.

"She is busy ruling," Toriel replied.

"Oh." Cortisia frowned at the ground. "Will you visit?"

"Of course," I said, "Maybe not very soon, but I promise we will visit again someday."

"Okay! And bring the queen's baby, too. I love babies!" Cortisia gently hit my nose with her scarf.

When we finally left the town, Mr. Gaban offered me his hand so he could teleport me back to the capital. Wingdin gave me a tight hug.

"Goodbye," he said.

"Goodbye," I replied. I pulled away from the hug and grabbed Mr. Gaban's hand. Moments later, we were standing in the outskirts of my city. The familiar shape of my castle poked out from above all the other smaller building around it.

Mother was waiting for us at the front of the city gates, holding a familiar looking trident-Father's. It was cold here at this time of year, so she was wearing a heavy coat. Even so, I could see a bump poking from her abdomen. My younger sibling, I realized, would never get to meet our father.

When she saw us, she dropped her trident and tackled me in a hug. I practically melted in her arms. It seemed like forever since I had seen Mother last.

"Azzy, I'm so sorry," she said, "I'm so sorry about your father. We shouldn't have sent you away. You should have been allowed to see him one last time. I promise I will never send you away again. No matter what happens, I will keep you safe here in the capital."

I did not care about all that then. All that mattered was that I was home and there was Mother. "I missed you, Mother," I said.

"I missed you too, Azzy," Mother said, "I love you so much, my child." At that, Mother released me from the hug and headed over to Toriel, who had been watching us with a longing expression on her face.

"Hadriel was my best friend," she said, "She was like a sister to me. And you have always been like a daughter to me, Toriel. I know I cannot replace your mother-I do not _want_ to replace your mother, but I will welcome you into my family with open arms, and I swear on the Angels that I will protect you no matter what."

Mother opened her arms for a hug, and Toriel burst into tears and obliged. This was the first time Toriel has cried since we found out the news. She had never sounded so upset before. It was like all the sadness and frustration she had built up over the past week just flowed out. Mother was unfazed. She crouched down to Toriel's height and held her and stroked her head while she cried, like she used to do to me.

Msr. Aster came and stood beside me. "You and Toriel have both been very good guests. I hope we'll see you again someday."

"I hope so," I said, "And I promised Wingdin that I'll write. Thanks again for letting us stay."

"It was an honor," Msr. Aster said, "We need to go soon, but I look forward to your letters."

After Toriel had calmed down, the Gasters exchanged a few words with Mother and then teleported away. Mother cooked us a huge dinner of snail pie with butterscotch cinnamon tarts for dessert, then she ushered us to the guest room that Toriel always stayed in when she and her mother came to the castle for business.

"You may talk and play for another few hours," Mother said, lighting one of the magic torches in the room. For the first time that day, I noticed the dark circles under her eyes. In the torchlight, she seemed to have aged five years in the past five months. "But I want you both to be in bed by the time that torch burns out. Tomorrow we're going to Dalelry to meet with the Monarch's Council. Asgore, you did say you really wanted to see one of the meetings."

After Mother left, Toriel and I did as we were told. We lay on the soft carpet on the floor and talked. We talked about our favorite things in Aiphuoxbone, Wingdin and Cortisia, and how excited we were for my baby sibling.

"Are you feeling better now, Toriel?"

"Yes, I think so," Toriel replied, "I think I am just still trying to take in the fact that my mother is gone. How are you?"

"I think I could be doing worse," I said. Toriel chuckled softly, which made me feel proud. "I guess there is really nothing for us to do other than deal with it and go on with life. Writing in my journal helps. Are you sure you do not want to share the journal with me?"

Toriel shook her head. "No thank you," she said, "I do not think writing works for me."

I told Toriel that my offer still stands, and she could write in this journal whenever she wants. Then we talked a bit more about the Monarch's Council and what we thought it would be like. Toriel said she overheard Mother saying something about going to Dalelry on foot, but she must have misheard. One time I heard my tutor say that it took five days to get from the Capital to Dalelry if you walked for most of the day and rested after sundown. Mother would not make us walk that long. Not when we could just take a boat there.

It feels so strange to be back home. I will miss Aiphuoxbone, but I missed the Capital even more. Now that I am back, though, everything is so different. Normally at this time I would be hearing the low rumble of Father's voice conversing with the hushed whisper of Mother's voice downstairs. I never could make out what they were talking about, but the conversation seemed pleasant most of the time. It was a nice background noise for me to fall asleep to, but now it was gone. The only noise remaining is what seems to be Mother crying in her room down the hall.

Maybe I should not be so unused to a lack of noise. Even now, the castle is noisier than the Gaster household, what with the servants going about their business and all. I suppose I only find this strange because I have heard Mother and Father conversing every night that I have slept in my room since as long as I can remember. Being back in the Capital is so familiar, yet so different at the same time.

I am upsetting myself. I should not have stayed up this late. We are going to the Monarch's Council tomorrow after all. It is time for me to sleep.

~Asgore

 **I may or may not have cried at least once while writing the reunion scene. Next chapter is a long one-the first day of the Monarch's Council!**

 **Remember that a constitutional monarchy is not necessarily better than an absolute one. It just means that when there's corruption in the system, it's harder to know for sure who is behind all of it.**

 **Review!**

 **~Pandora**


	26. Chapter 26

**Hi, everyone! Today's chapter is super long-almost five pages in my Word document! You should expect similarly long chapters in the next two or three updates-I had a lot of stuff to cover and I didn't really want to spread it out over six or seven weeks because this story stretches over the course of a long time.**

 **Guest: Sh*t is, indeed slowly approaching the fan. (Or fans, should I say?)**

 **DauntlessAngel11: "everything appears fine" you keep thinking that.**

 **Here's today's chapter:**

January 21, 171 A.E.

Entry #26

Today when I went downstairs to meet with Mother to go to the Monarch's Council, I found that Toriel was not there. She had left early, Mother said. As the future royal advisor, she had a special duty to complete.

"Will we see her at the counsel?" I asked.

"She will probably come by the fifth day," Mother said, "Four, if she hurries. Don't worry, Azzy. The meeting lasts for a whole week. She'll get there before we come back. If you want company while we're at the meeting, the host, Lord Von Salamancer, has a daughter close to your age. She'll probably give you a tour of the palace."

What "special duties" would Toriel even be doing that would take five days? I tried to imagine it, but I realised that I did not have a very good idea on what a royal advisor would do. In fact, I am still a bit confused on what kings are supposed to do. I know that they are supposed to rule the kingdom, but how do you rule a kingdom? I wanted to ask Mother about it, but she told me to go outside with her and board our boat before I could.

"Remember to be on your best behavior, Azzy," Mother said, "We will be guests at Lord Von Salamancer's manor for the next week. As the prince, you have to set a good example. Council members from every major town in the kingdom will be there. This is a wonderful chance for you learn about life in other areas."

I thought about Aiphuoxbone. It was considered a major town by Miss Helvetica, but it was much smaller and quieter than the Capital. Children did not usually wander around town by themselves in the Capital because it would be unsafe from the many human villages that were nearby. Aiphuoxbone did have humans nearby, but they had never bothered them before.

Aiphuoxbone was so far from the Capital-at the northern edge of the kingdom, and life there was so different. What is life like in other towns, like Flenin near the sea or Ashburn in the volcano or Black Hollow in the valleys to the south? I suppose in the next week I will get to find out something about all those towns.

"Tra la la," the Riverperson sang, "Where will we go today?"

"Dalelry, please," Mother said.

"Then we're off," the Riverperson replied.

When I was little, I used to love the woosh of the wind by my ears as the boat sped off in the water. Today, though, I barely paid the noise any mind. I was nervous about the Monarch's Council. What will they say to me when we get there? Will they say they are sorry about Father and shoo me away to play with the kids nearby, like adults always did, or will they let me sit in the meeting room and ask me for advice on running the kingdom like an adult? I was not sure how I wanted them to treat me. Should they treat me like an adult, even if I am not grown yet? I do not know.

 _Was Father this nervous when he attended a meeting for the first time?_ I wondered. The thought of Father just made me sad, but luckily we arrived before I got too upset.

"Shall I pick you and your son up in seven day's time, your highness?" the Riverperson asked.

"That would be wonderful," Mother replied, "Thank you." The Riverperson hummed a tune in response and disappeared, leaving a small splash of water behind.

Dalelry is almost as large as the Capital with lots of stone houses and shops. The lord of the town, Lord Von Salamancer, had his mansion built at the center of the town. The lord sent ten guards to escort us to the palace safely, which I thought was very unecessary.

Lord Viceroy Von Salamancer is a stout green lizard monster who owned the fuel industry in Dalelry. His daughter, Carys Von Salamancer, looked similar, but her scales are more yellow and she has three crests at the back of her head, not two. She is a year older than me.

When we arrived at the palace, Lord Von Salamancer came and bowed. He told us he was sorry about Father like everyone I met in the past few days has, and told Carys to go play with me. I wanted to stay and watch the meeting, but Mother told me that the official meetings do not start until tomorrow.

"Come on, your majesty," Carys said in a quiet voice, "I'll show you around the manor."

"Have fun with Carys, Asgore," Mother said, "I'll see you tonight at the feast. Lord Von Salamancer and I have a lot to discuss."

 _What does Mother need to talk to Lord Von Salamancer about that she could not let me hear?_ I thought bitterly.

"Would you like me to show you where you'll be staying this week, your majesty?" Carys asked in her quiet voice. She headed down one of the hallways and I followed.

"Sure," I said, "Can you just call me Asgore?" When I meet new people, they always call me "your majesty." It is the polite thing to do, of course, but sometimes it makes me feel like the other monsters only respect me because I am the prince. I do not want to be more important than anyone. I do not want to be "your majesty," I want to be just Asgore.

Carys turned and raised an eyebrow. "Alright," she said, "I'm sorry, Asgore." She blushed and scurried to a door and opened it. "This is your room for this week, Asgore."

The room was about three quarters the size of my room back in the Capital, but it still seemed big enough to fit the Gasters' entire house in it. I had gotten used to the crowdedness and the small size of the Gasters' house, and I suppose my old room did not bother me because it was so familiar, but this room seemed so empty.

"My Lord got the biggest guest rooms in the palace for you and the queen" Carys said, "The queen's staying in the room right across from you, although I don't think the servants will bring her here until after the banquet tonight."

"Your Lord?" I asked, "Like, your dad?"

"Yes," Carys replied. She did not say anything else on that topic so I asked her to continue the tour.

The Von Salamancer palace is filled with things from other parts of the world. There were tapestries of humans made of something called silk from a place called India hanging from all the halls. There were vases made from a special kind of stone that Carys said was called "china" that held more foreign plants.

I had never seen most of the decorations in the palace before. Mother and Father are not very interested in decorating our castle with things imported from other places. There is really no use in buying a lot of good quality stuff if we are just going to display it around the castle instead of using it, they said. Instead, we just keep a few portraits of our family around. I rather like some of the vases, though. They are pretty.

The banquet began at sundown. There were many monsters in the garden, but most of them seemed to be servants setting up tables and bringing food. There were only a handful of monsters that did not seem to be servants.

Mother and Lord Von Salamancer sat at the table in the front of the dining hall with Carys and me. All the guests-representatives from other towns and some of their kids-came to say hello. A few of them made conversation with Mother, and some of them talked to me.

"Hello, little prince!" a lady said. She was the spider queen from Black Hollow. Lady Cordiway, I think? She shook my hand and then pinched my cheek. "This is your first time here, isn't it? Ooh, you're so adorable I can just eat you up!" She kissed me on my forehead and went to talk to Mother. Her two daughters lifted their heavy skirts and curtsied at me, then followed their mother. Carys smiled softly and offered me a napkin.

"What?" I asked. She held up a metal spoon and I looked at my reflection. A red lip mark was on the middle of my forehead. I hurriedly wiped it off.

A fish monster that I recognized as Ephyra the Fearless, Father's military chief, was headed in our direction. Her daughter was running towards our table as well. Carys turned red and waved.

Lord Von Salamancer chuckled. "Carys," he said, "Would you like to go catch up with your friend Sedna?"

"Yes, my Lord," Carys said, "Thank you!"

I had hoped that she would not leave, because then I would be the only child left at the table. I had only known Carys for less than a day, and she did not provide much interesting conversation anyway, but Toriel was not here, so I did not want to be alone at the table with no one to talk to.

My face must have shown how I felt because Mother raised her hand to stop Carys the fish monster girl-Sedna-from running off. "Is it okay if Asgore joined you two?" she asked.

"Of course, your majesty," Sedna said. She gestured to me to follow her. As I left, I gave Mother a grateful look. Mother smiled and gave me a wave.

For a while, the three of us just moved around the buffet eating. Sedna was excitedly rambling about her new girlfriend back in Flenin while Carys listened with a wistful expression on her face. I wanted to join in on their mostly one-sided conversation, but I did not know what to say.

"So, Asgore," Sedna suddenly said, "This is your first Council meeting, yeah?"

"Yeah," I said, "I don't know what happens in these kinds of meetings, though."

"The adults usually don't let us in the conference room," Sedna replied, "We're supposed to just hang around the mansion. We're allowed to do whatever we want as long as we don't break anything or go outside the garden."

"Why haven't you come to these meetings before, Asgore?" Carys asked.

"My Father said that there would have been nothing for me to do here until I became of age," I said. Suddenly I felt a lump in my throat, "I guess Mother is bringing me here now because he is gone and she wanted me to see what the Council meetings are like."

"Oh my angel, I'm so sorry about your dad!" Sedna's bright yellow fins turned into a shade of dark blue, almost matching her skin. "I heard my moms talk about it a few days ago. That's got to be terrible."

"It is okay," I said, "I will just have to get used to it."

"This spider doughnut tastes pretty good," Carys said, giving me a small smile.

"It is!" Sedna grabbed three doughnuts. " _My Lady Von Salamancer_ here is a wimp, but you want to see how many doughnuts I can sneak into my robe, Asgore?"

I stared at the glittery green robes that Sedna wore. They seemed two sizes too big for her, although that might have been a stylistic decision. "A lot, I guess." We spent the next half of the banquet stuffing doughnuts down our clothes.

When I got back to my room tonight, Mother was not in her room across the hall. There was a note on her bed that said that she was discussing things with Lord Von Salamancer and that she would be back by midnight. I do not think I can stay up that late, no matter how much I wanted to talk to her.

I thought that Mother brought Toriel and I back to the Capital because she missed us and wanted us to feel better about losing Father and Miss Hadriel. Why did she bring us home if she is not spending time with me anyway and is sending Toriel away? Carys and Sedna seemed nice, but I miss Toriel, and I want to spend time with Mother.

Perhaps tomorrow I can finally talk to her.

~Asgore

 **Phew, that was long.**

 **Remember that HE WILL NOT DIVIDE US!**

 **~Pandora**


	27. Chapter 27

**Hi, everyone! It's another long chapter today. I put a lot of effort into the world building, so I hope you guys will like it. Enjoy:**

January 23, 171 A.E.

Entry #27

Yesterday, Mother woke me up very early in the morning. She wanted to take me to the meeting so I could listen in on what they were talking about. I readily agreed. I did not want to spend the entire week just wandering around the mansion.

The meeting room was surprisingly small and snug. There was a long rectangular table with about twenty chairs-twenty six-Mother said. Mother sat at one end of the table and made me sit at the other. There was one empty seat to my right. I realized who used to sit at that chair and the one I was sitting in and pushed the thought away. It would just make me sad, and I did not want to cry in front of all these adults.

The meeting started quickly with Lord Von Salamancer and Mother both making an introduction speech. The representatives agreed to make announcements to the kingdom about Father and Toriel's Mother in a week.

"We need to make a truce with the European humans," Lord Von Salamancer said, "This war is hurting trade. The businesses in the kingdom are losing all their human customers in Paz's alliances because of the war. The kingdom is losing too much money."

"You mean _your_ business is losing all its human customers because of the war," General Ephyra said, "The only monster industry humans really use is the fuel industry you're running with the Ashburn Fire Elementals. Your family and Lord Heatsman keeps most of the money the business makes on exports, anyway. It doesn't hurt the kingdom at all either way."

"Actually, the mines are losing money, too," the head of the Earth Elementals spoke, "We always mine more metals than the kingdom needs, so we sell most of that to the humans in Paz's tribes, who then trades it with some of the Europeans, anyway. The European humans are interested in these materials, so why not trade with them? Paz's humans would not trade with us anymore, so we're losing money. Some of the monsters in my town are barely getting by."

"M-maybe you should lower the prices of food, then," the chief of Wimsung said quietly, "We don't make the food that expensive when we sell it to other towns in the kingdom, and I'm sure the Froggits don't, either. There's no need to raise the prices so much when you resell it."

"Our cloth mills are suffering," Mayor Nita of Narfolk said, "My bunnies used to sell so much cloth to the humans, and it was a third of their income, too. But now the humans stopped buying, no matter how cold it gets in this area. Narfolk is far to the north of the farms, so we have to ask a Riverperson to send food all the way here. You know they can only hold so much in one boat. It's expensive for us to ship the food here. We still have to make a profit."

""The European humans won't buy your textiles," Mayor Avenir said. I remembered seeing him in Aiphuoxbone, although we never interacted much except for a curt nod on my way to school one day. "They've come as far north as Aiphuoxbone to trade with Paz's allies and enemies alike. If they were interested in monster made cloths, they would have tried to buy it already. They're only interested in animal furs."

"We could introduce it to them," Mayor Nita said, her ears drooping to her neck. "The Europeans just don't know how useful our good could be."

"They'll never listen to us," Mayor Avenir said, "They hate monsters even more than Paz's people do. Crossing paths with Europeans end in lost souls most of the time."

"Then perhaps we should do as Lord Von Salamancer said," Lady Cordiway said, adjusting her hat, which was decorated with a garden of flowers and more veil than Narfolk would make in a year. "We should send our diplomats out to make an alliance with the Europeans. Right now they're staying neutral on this war, but they have to pick a side eventually if they're going to stay here. We've fought wars with them. We've seen how powerful their weapons are, combined with their strong souls. Do we really want to be on the wrong side of the war when they start fighting?"

"Exactly," Lord Von Salamancer gestured to Lady Cordiway, who had gone back to studying her perfectly manicured nails. "Your Majesty," he turned to Mother, "You can clearly see the benefits of allying ourselves with the European humans. What is your verdict on this?"

Mother looked like she was deep in thought. "My verdict on this matter is that we will not be pursuing this alliance. No matter what the European humans do, at the end of the day, they are still humans. I trusted humans once, and it ended with the death of my husband and my best friend. I won't make the same mistake again."

Lord Von Salamancer gritted his teeth. "What about you, Prince Asgore?" he asked, "What do you think of this decision?"

"Do not drag my son into this matter," Mother said curtly, "He is only here to watch. He will not have any votes in the council until he is king."

I frowned. I wanted to take part in the discussion too. Monsters making friends with the Europeans would be a wonderful idea. Paz's tribe's relationships with some of the Europeans are bad, but she is also good friends with a few European groups. Maybe if we make friends with those humans, they can help us stop Paz's war.

"Very well, your majesty," Lord Von Salamancer said, "You're right. When Asgore becomes king he'll help us make decisions. But for now, I request that the council puts it to a vote."

"Alright," Mother said, "Those in favor of forming the alliance, raise your hand." Lord Von Salamancer, Lady Cordiway, Mayor Nita, and most of the other leaders raised their hands. I wanted to raise my hand too, but I had a feeling that Mother and several of the other adults would disapprove.

"Those against?" Mother said, raising her hand. General Ephyra, Mayor Avenir, and six other leaders raised their hands. "It's official, then," Mother said, "We will not be forming an alliance."

I waved my hand in the air. "Wait!" I said, "Fifteen people voted for it but only nine voted against!" All of a sudden, twenty four heads turned my direction. I blushed and put my hand down.

Lord Von Salamancer chuckled, "I suppose you don't know how the voting system in the council works, Prince Asgore," he said, "Everyone has one vote in the council except for the king, queen and the royal advisor. The king and queen both have seven votes, and the royal advisor has five. If the vote is a tie, then the ruling monarch, who is the queen at the moment, gets to decide the final result."

"Now that we've cleared that up," General Ephyra said, "We can safely say that this case is closed."

"Yes it is," Lord Von Salamancer agreed, "And I have another matter that I feel the council needs to discuss, about our young prince."

"Me?" I said, "What is it?"

"Well," Lord Von Salamancer said, "you will be king soon, my prince, so you have to consider-who will be the queen?"

My face turned hot. "W-what?"

"No monster rules alone, your majesty," Lady Cordiway said, "Every ruler of the Monster Kingdom is expected to have a spouse when they come onto the throne."

"Of course," Mayor Nita said, "No one's pressuring you to have a queen. The last two kings had queens, but it wouldn't be uncommon at all if you took a king or a ruler. Most royals marry almost as soon as they become of age."

"But Asgore wouldn't be of age for another seven years," Chief Hylidae of the Froggits croaked, "Wouldn't it be a bit early for him to start thinking about this?"

"No," Mother said, "Amynos and I started dating when we were fourteen. Asgore is reaching that age in a little more than a year. It's time he starts thinking about it."

"Now, you're not in a hurry to find anyone yet, love," Lady Cordiway said, "But do you think you might have someone in mind? Traditionally, your spouse must be a boss monster, although boss monster genes are dominant, so your children will be a boss monster either way. You can really just marry anyone you want-and anyone that will have you, of course, but who wouldn't have the future king of the monster?"

I thought about it. I did not realize that being king mean I also have to find another king or queen or ruler. But I suppose I would not bear the weight of ruling alone, either. It sounds tiring even if I just think about it. I wonder how tired Mother feels right now?

But Father had talked, again and again, about how important a good leader is. He was a good leader. Mother is a good leader. My grandparents were good leaders. But I do not think I will be a good leader on my own. Whoever I marry must be a good leader that I can trust to run the kingdom with me. And no matter how hard I thought about it, there was really only one monster I trusted.

"I know who I want to marry," I said. Mother raised her eyebrow in surprise. "I want to marry Toriel."

Lord Von Salamancer's face fell. "No," he said, "You can marry whoever will marry you, Asgore, but you are not allowed to marry Toriel."

"Why?" I asked, outraged. They said whoever I want, so why not Toriel? Who else would be as smart and kind and compassionate and beautiful as her?

"Toriel is going to be the royal advisor," Mother said, "The positions of the royal advisor and the queen are two different jobs. They cannot be done by the same person."

"If the previous advisor had more than one child," General Ephyra said, "then we would have no problem with Toriel being queen because the other child would be the royal advisor. But she only had one child, so Toriel is the only one who can inherit the position of royal advisor."

I did not notice I had stood up. Quietly, I sank back into my seat. Mother quickly reassured me that I did not have to immediately start thinking of whom I wanted to marry, and that I still had plenty of time. I sulked for the rest of the meeting. I did not think I missed much-the rest of the stuff they discussed all seemed boring and I was not allowed to vote anyway.

Mother must have noticed how bored I was during the meeting, because the today she told me to just "go and play with Carys." I quickly found her in the dining hall eating pie with Sedna. They took me to the Von Salamancer garden.

We have a garden in our courtyard, but that is mostly for me to play around in. I planted a few uneven rows of flowers and there was a gardener that maintained them when I wanted to do something else. The empty space in our courtyard is mostly a grass field and some combat dummies for training the militia.

The Von Salamancer garden is a lush place filled with stone statues and flowers and trees. Carys said that some of the plants were brought here from other parts of the world. I stared at the rows of blue and pink and orange flowers. I did not doubt that they were from some other land. I had never seen some of them before.

"Oh!" Carys said, "Hang on, there's a weed," She crouched down and plucked a small yellow flower from the ground.

"That is just a buttercup," I said, "It is harmless."

"Actually, buttercups are poisonous to eat," Carys replied, "It's also growing in the wrong place. It'll make the garden look bad." She pointed her finger at the remaining stem and shot a small beam of electricity at it. "There," she said as the stem wilted. I felt bad. It was not the buttercup's fault that it was at the wrong place at the wrong time.

"So my mom was talking about how you were complaining yesterday because they didn't want you to smooch your girlfriend." Sedna sat down on the grass and smirked at me. "Is that true?"

I could physically feel my face turn a shade of bright red. "It was just a suggestion!" I squeaked, sitting down beside her. "I was going to be king and they said I am supposed to marry someone and they asked me for a suggestion so I gave them one! Toriel is not my girlfriend!"

Carys chuckled silently, "Okay," she said, "But I know how it feels. My Lord says I should get married in the future since I'm supposed to inherit his spot in the Monarch's Council and Dalelry's business when he's gone. He says I 'need to produce my own heir.'"

"I know who I want to marry," Sedna said, "I want to marry my girlfriend! She's the best person in the world! Mom says I'm too young to know about this stuff but I'm thirteen so I'm not too young. What does she know?"

"Yeah," Carys said, "I know who I want to marry, but I don't think it'll work out." Her eyes flicked to Sedna, then to the yellow flower in her hand.

"Aw, come on," Sedna said, putting a hand on Carys's shoulder, "I'm sure whoever it is, you two will figure it out." Carys smiled and blushed.

I stared at the neat rows of pink flowers-tulips-and flopped onto the soft blades of grass. I knew who I wanted to marry, too, but it would not work out, either.

Sometimes I wished I was not the prince.

~Asgore

 **So I haven't been getting a lot of reviews lately, and I've been having a hard time writing this story because of it. It's hard to find motivation to write if no one tells you that they want more chapters. Remember that if I get fifteen or more reviews on a new chapter, I will post two chapters on the next update.**

 **Remember that an oligarchy isn't necessarily better than an absolute monarchy. It just makes it harder to find the source of corruption.**

 **Review!**

 **~Pandora**


	28. Chapter 28

**Hi everyone! Sorry tonight's chapter is so late. I was at a convention and I had a lot of homework.**

 **DauntlessAngel11: I suppose Asgore's mother could be losing hope, but she is not going to fall down. There is one character, though, who is losing hope and** ** _is_** **in danger of falling down if she's not careful.**

 **Here's today's chapter:**

January 26, 171 A.E.

Entry #28

Last night Toriel arrived! She seemed pretty tired, not to mention she was covered in twigs and mud, so she did not speak to me much before she went to bed.

Mother asked me to sit through some more meetings the day before the last. The chief of Shadowclan, Nightstar, wanted to close borders in all the major towns to protect them better. Lord Von Salamancer, Lady Cordiway, and Lord Heatsman pointed out that their borders are already closed save for important official visits. Mother refused to call for all the borders to be closed in the entire kingdom.

"Individual leaders have the right to close their borders if they feel it's necessary," Mother said, "But I will not do something like this in the capital, and I won't ask for the rest of the kingdom to do so either." Most of the leaders agreed.

After lunch, Mother sent me to go play with Carys and Sedna again. They were in the garden. Sedna was trying to change the color of her fins as fast as she could while Carys listed colors as suggestions.

"Asgore!" Sedna waved me over as soon as she saw me. Her fins had white, yellow, and pink stripes. "Name a color! Carys is running out!"

"Cerulean," I said. Sedna snorted and turned the fin on the left side of her head cerulean. "That's easy. Give me a harder one. Give me patterns!"

"Amaranth polka-dots on a flavescent background," Carys suggested. Sedna paused. Her fins became transparent.

"I don't know that color," she said.

"How do you do that?" I asked.

Sedna shrugged. "I just imagine what color I want my fins to be and it turns into that color. Kids in Flenin do this kind of stuff all the time." She grinned. "You know what's really cool? Watch this."

"Your mom said you weren't allowed to do that," Carys said.

"My mom's not here right now," Sedna replied. Her skin turned an ashy shade of brown. Her fins flickered and morphed into long black strands of hair. She smiled at me. Aside from her sharp teeth, Sedna looked exactly like a human. If she said she was from Paz's tribe, I would have believed her.

"That is amazing!" I said.

"That is also not allowed," Carys pointed out, "What if a servant sees you and thinks you're a human?"

"Can you turn into anything?" I asked.

"Technically I can, I guess," Sedna replied, "But not really. I can change little details like color and stuff like that, but I can't really change body shape unless I concentrate a lot." She held out her hand and tensed. Her arm grew longer. I tried to poke it but my finger just passed through it.

"It's just an illusion," Carys explained, "All glamour is."

"Yeah," Sedna relaxed and her arm turned back to normal. "Mom says I'm pretty good at glamour for someone my age, but changing shape is just hard to do in general. It's dangerous to hold a different shape for too long."

"Why?" I asked.

"Apparently if you use your glamour too much you can really strain your head," Sedna said, "And sometimes you can lose the ability to use glamour all together. Apparently fish monsters like me actually need to use glamour once in a while? Mom says that otherwise all the magic in our systems would go weird and we'd go weird along with it. I'm pretty sure some people actually died. They didn't use their glamours enough and it messed with their heads so much they got depressed and fell down."

"Ouch," I said, "I suppose it is useful and all, but why does your race have glamour if it can cause so much trouble?"

Carys raised her hand. "I know!" she said, looking mildly excited, "My Lord has been making me learn about different towns and their history!"

Fish monsters-the strong ones from Flenin and the artsy ones from Aria-both used to live in the sea with the sea monsters. Some of them evolved legs over time, though, and began to live among the humans. Humans got along with them pretty well at first. They respected all the creatures, animal or monster, that came from nature, since they came from nature themselves.

Years later new humans arrived from the other side of the ocean. They did not like the fish monsters and attacked them. Some monsters developed musical magic that lets them confuse human attackers when they sang so it would buy them more time to escape. They eventually settled near a small cave and founded Aria.

The fish monsters that founded Flenin learned to fight and developed glamour to blend in with the humans when they attacked. Eventually they also grew to look more like humans in shape so they did not have to work as hard on their glamours.

I thought being able to use glamour would be very cool. I could use it to flatten those tufts of fur on my ears that never flatten properly. Or I can get rid of my yellow hair. I do not like my yellow hair. Neither of my parents have it, although Mother says that her grandmother did.

That evening when I headed to my room, I passed by a tapestry of a blonde human woman with large purple eyes. Those eyes seemed to follow me as I walked through the hallway. It was very creepy. The next morning I asked Carys about the woman.

"That's Lady Grimme," she replied, "My Lord was her vassal when he was my age. He learned a lot of magic from her."

"Magic?" I asked, "I thought humans could not do magic."

"If they train hard enough, they can learn," Carys said, "Humans who already have a connection to monsters can learn magic more easily, but even if they don't, they can still learn. She knew my lord through his father, and I think she took him as a vassal so she could learn magic more easily."

"Who was Lord Von Salamancer's father?" I asked. I have never seen a human with purple eyes before, but humans with blond hair did not usually interact with monsters.

"My Lord was orphaned at a young age, so he was taken in by a human heir of a trading company. Lady Grimme's brother, the Red Knight, was his bodyguard and that's how she knew him. When he died, he gave My Lord a lot of money, which was how he bought the whole fuel company in Dalelry."

"Is Lady Grimme still alive?" I asked.

"No," Carys said, "She and her brother died in a duel with some monsters decades ago. I think her daughter and the Red Knight's son are still alive, though. They must be about seventy by now, which is really old for a human. Did you know humans can only live for about eighty years at most, Asgore? They age at a steady pace-even after they reach twenty-and grow old and die very fast."

I have always found human aging strange. They cannot control their aging with their emotions? How would they fall down, then? The only human I have had much contact with was Paz, and she never stopped to talk to me much. She had never explained human aging to me and Mother and Father never felt the need to. (Not that I asked.)

Mother took me to Toriel's room this afternoon so I could talk to her. She was still bleary-eyed, but she seemed glad to see me.

"Where were you the past few days?" I asked.

"Some guides showed me how to walk from the Capital to Dalelry," she replied, "They also taught me how to build a shelter and get food from the wild."

I frowned. "Why would they need to do that?" I asked, "You just need to call a Riverperson to get to Dalelry. This is unecessary."

Toriel stared at the ground. "Maybe there will come a time when you cannot call a Riverperson but still need to get to Dalelry, Asgore. What then?"

"Why would we need to come here?" I asked, "If there is a problem, we can always turn to Mother."

Toriel looked like she was going to say something, but decided against it. "I will be the royal advisor soon, Gorey," she said, "I need to learn how to protect you."

"What does that have to do with anything?" I asked.

"If..." Toriel took a deep breath. "If the Capital is under attack someday and something happens to the queen, we can find protection here in Dalelry. That is what your mother told me. The Riverpeople do not have a stable social structure. They come and go of their own free will, and their prices change. If we have no money, then perhaps we can find a Riverperson kind enough to take us here free of charge. Otherwise, we will have to travel on foot, and I need to be ready for that."

"I want to know what to do if that happens, too," I said.

Toriel shook her head. "You do not have to worry about that, Asgore," she said, "I am the royal advisor. It is my job."

"But-"

"You are a prince," Toriel said firmly, "You have other things to worry about."

Everyone says I have other things to worry about, but what are those things? It seems that everyone thinks I still cannot handle important things, but I am sure I can! Toriel is only two months older than me, but Mother already trusts her to walk to Dalelry by herself. Why does Mother not trust me to do the same? Why does _Toriel_ not trust me to do the same?

I understand I am still a child, but I can be responsible, too. I just wish that everyone else knew that.

~Asgore

 **Remember that Mabel Juice is an abomination of sugar, edible glitter, and gummy worms and you should only take about two sips at most if you don't want to die of a heart attack.**

 **Review!**

 **~Pandora**


	29. Chapter 29

**Hi, everyone! I just finished listening to In The Heights last night and I must say that I like Lin Manuel Miranda's habit of writing about destitute orphans from the** **Caribbeans** **a lot.**

 **bluecheesecake24: Remember those color changing fins. They are important later. Also on the subject of Paradox Space, might I direct your attention to the full name of the lord of Dalelry?**

 **Here's today's chapter:**

January 28, 171 A.E.

Entry # 29

Last night when we returned from Dalelry, I asked Asgore to lend me his journal. He was ecstatic at the prospect of me writing in it again. I have decided to stop being so stubborn. I must start to consider my new responsibilities in the future, and I suppose writing here will help me clear my mind of some of the stress.

Last week, Queen Amoura woke me up before sunrise and told me that I must start on my trip to Dalelry as early as possible.

"I thought we were taking a boat," I muttered, clumsily pulling on a shirt.

"Asgore and I will be," Queen Amoura replied, "but you will not. Every future royal advisor must learn the way to the Monarch's Council on foot. If anything happens to the kingdom and the river systems are disturbed, it would be the royal advisor's job to lead the monarchs to their council. I'm sorry we have to do this while you're still so young, but now that Hadriel is gone, you must learn this route as soon as possible."

Queen Amoura promised that I would make my way to Dalelry with several guards to make sure I do not get hurt. I was given a map of all the trails leading from the Capital and Dalelry and told to trace a route for us to follow. There were several routes that I could have taken, but the guards told me about all the bumpy tree roots in the shortest route and the bugs on the second shortest.

According to one of the older guards, Mother was the one that planned out most of these trails, along with King Amynos. Almost sixty years ago, when she was a bit older than my age, the Riverpeople, along with the elementals, rebelled and Mother and King Amynos walked to Dalelry to meet with the rest of the Monarch's Council and end the rebellion. She never had to use the trails again, the guard said, and he hoped that I did not have to either.

We came across two small villages during the day but slept in tents in the wild during the night. If we wanted to reach Dalelry as fast as possible, the guards said, we must travel as much as possible and cover as much ground as possible.

We bought some supplies in the villages-I was given fifty gold and told to buy enough food for myself for the next five days. I did not buy enough food and ran out by the third day, but the guards said that that was expected and showed me how to find and cook food found in the forest. Snail pie tastes surprisingly good. I like the creamy texture.

They also showed me how to build a shelter from branches in the woods and leaves. I was a bit clumsy at first, but I learned quickly. With the right type of moss as bedding, a shelter made of sticks and leaves is actually quite cozy.

It started raining on the fourth day, though, and we were all cold from our wet clothes. We stopped several times to start fires and dry off, but the fires never lasted long unless they were extremely hot, I noticed. I conjured a line of flames above my head and it evaporated the water that was about to drench me. It was extinguished almost immediately, but I conjured another line of flames almost immediately. I kept trying to do that, although I could only do it for about five minutes before I got too tired. The guards said it was very innovative.

We arrived at Dalelry on the fifth day about an hour after it got dark. The lord of the town, Lord Von Salamancer, told servants to escort me to a room to wash up and rest. Asgore tried to talk to me, but as glad as I was to see him that day, I told him to come later. My feet were very sore and I wanted to sleep. I did not get much sleep, though. The bed in the Von Salamancer bedroom was so soft compared to the moss I had become accustomed to in the past five days. It was unsettling.

The next day, Asgore took me to meet the new friends he made in Dalelry. He said he was going to write to Wingdin about them. Carys seems shy, although that may just be a result of her father pressuring her to behave herself. Sedna was very outgoing and friendly. I found I liked her quite a lot.

That morning, Queen Amoura asked me to sit in the council with her. She sat on one end of the long table and seated me in the chair right next to the other end. I quickly realized whose chair it used to be and pushed that thought away. Royal advisors do not cry. Crying is for children, and I cannot afford to be a child anymore, not when I have people that I care about that I have to take care of.

"So, Lady Toriel," Lord Von Salamancer said. My eyes widened at the word "Lady." I have never been referred to as "Lady" before, only "Miss" in formal occasions. But Mother was "Lady Hadriel," so I suppose that will be my title from now on.

"Now that you know the way to Dalelry," Lord Von Salamancer said, "know that you are always welcome in my town if King Asgore ever has any problems during his reign."

I glanced at the queen. I hope she will stay for a long time, but every monster dies. I did always expect to be Asgore's advisor some day, when he is king.

"Toriel," Queen Amoura said, "I know you will not be an official royal advisor for another seven years, but I would like you to start thinking like one. Your main job now is to do as the monarch tells you, and protect the royal family at all costs. No matter what, I want you to protect the heir to the throne."

"I will do my best, my queen," I said.

"No," Queen Amoura replied, "You will do it. You cannot fail, Toriel. The fate of monster kind rests on your ability to protect the future monarch. You must protect them, Toriel." She rested her hand on her chest, where her soul would be, "No matter what it costs you."

My soul pulsed with fear. I suppose it is only logical. War is a dangerous time to live through. A king can rule without his advisor, but monsters need their king.

I do not know if Asgore will read my entries or not. I read his, since he did not seem to mind, but he did not say anything about the things I wrote last time. Nevertheless, Asgore, if you are reading this, I promise I will be the best royal advisor I can be. I will help you rule with the same brilliance as my mother before me and we will have a peaceful reign, free of war.

And I swear on every angel I can name and every angel I cannot, that I will protect you. I will do anything to keep you from harm. Even if it costs me my life.

~Toriel

 **Remember that if you don't keep your promise, then there's really no point in making it in the first place.**

 **Review!**

 **~Pandora**


	30. Chapter 30

**Hi, everyone! Here's the chapter for today:**

February 10, 171 A.E.

Entry #30

A few days ago, two new soldiers-in-training a few years older than me arrived at the castle to train. Their names are Gerson and Gerdon, or, as they like to call themselves, the Dual Hammers of Justice. They are here because they were the best soldiers in their squadron in Flenin, so they were sent here to be part of Mother's personal army. Toriel and I like to talk to the new soldiers, but we got along with the twins the best.

"How old are you two?" Toriel asked.

"Just turned fifteen in November," Gerdon answered.

"We wanted to help with the war efforts so we signed up as soon as they would accept us," Gerson continued.

"I'm surprised we got sent here," Gerdon said.

"We were the youngest recruits in our squadron," Gerson said.

"We were in one of the squadrons with a lot of young recruits, though," Gerdon said.

"We were just too good at fighting for them," Gerson said.

"Together," Gerdon said, "we'll rise through the ranks and be the heroes of monster kind!"

"So are you guys from Flenin, then?" I asked.

"Nah," Gerson said, "We're from this tiny village near Flenin. Our parents were sent to some mountains far away to fight with the humans there and we hadn't heard from them ever since. Our village didn't have its own army and Flenin wasn't that far away so we went to train there."

"Most folks from Flenin are fish monsters anyway," Gerdon said, gesturing to his shell. "Also, we don't have glamour."

"Nope!" Gerson said, "These red locks are all natural."

"You'll like it here," I said, "Mother's guards are very good at training soldiers."

"I can't wait for training to start," Gerson said.

"Yeah," Gerdon said, "Then we can show the queen how awesome we are!"

"Hey," Gerson said, "What if the castle, like, came under attack? And we defeat all the humans?"

"Aw, that would be so cool!" Gerdon said, "We'd kill more humans than anyone else..."

"...And maybe one of the older soldiers will get wounded..."

"...And we'll charge through the battle to carry them to the medic..."

"...And this human will come and, like stab me or something..."

"...And you'd tell me that I'm the best brother you've ever had, but really you'd be fine and you survive..."

"...But now I get this cool scar on my shell..."

"...And you can finally impress the general's daughter back home!"

"Hey shut up!"

Toriel and I watched them fantasize about battles for a while. I did not see what was so fun about pretending to carry a dying friend in your arms, but Gerson and Gerdon seemed to enjoy it. Battles seem gruesome. I do not know why these new soldiers wanted a battle. Toriel was watching them with a skeptical look on her face.

"What is it?" I asked.

"What is what?" she replied.

"You are thinking about something," I said, "I can tell."

"These twins seem a bit immature, do they not?" she said.

"I do not see it," I replied, "They are just playing pretend. We do that all the time."

"Hmm," Toriel said, "They are short for fifteen, too."

I did not understand what she was trying to say. Gerson and Gerdon are short for fifteen, but some monsters just grow at an older age. They seem tall enough to fight. What was Toriel going on about?

Earlier today, I was passing by Mother's office when she was inside sketching military formations. I wanted to spend more time with her, but I've barely gotten to since I came back. She is always so busy, and so is Toriel, for that matter. I never want to disturb Mother from her work, and Toriel never wants me to pull her away from her planning sessions with Mother.

"Azzy," she called suddenly, "Please come in." I obeyed and stepped into the office, not sure what to expect.

I have not been in Mothers office in years. There was never really a reason for me to go into my parents' offices anyway. Once when I was seven I remember going into Mother's office and knocking all the books off the shelves as a joke. She laughed but told me to not do it again.

Mother's office was not at all what I remembered from almost six years ago. Most of the neat and orderly books from last time were now pulled off the shelves and laid on the table in crooked piles. There were papers lying on every table and parts of the floor. The rug on the floor had a splatter of black that looked like ink. Mother sat cross-legged in the middle of the rug in front of the main desk. Her belly was so big now she looked like she was holding a bundle of laundry under her robe.

"Come here, Azzy." Mother shifted and made a spot for me on the rug for me to sit down on. I sat, avoiding the ink spill and a few sketches of dots and squares and what looked like a complex map of a human town. "I want to know how you are adjusting to life back in the Capital," Mother said.

"I am fine," I said, "I write to Wingdin sometimes, even though I haven't gotten a letter back yet. I've made friends with some of the new soldiers you've recruited." I paused. "I do wish we can have dinner together every night, though."

Mother smiled. "I'll try my best, Azzy, but you have to understand that I'm very busy these days. Please don't be disappointed if I don't show up to dinner sometimes." I nodded and looked at the bump on Mother's belly. In about three months, I will be a big brother. I still had no idea what a big brother is supposed to do.

"Would you like to meet your little sibling, Asgore?" Mother said with a small smile. I frowned. Of course I wanted to meet them. But they are not born yet. How can I meet a little sibling that has not yet been born?

"Put your hand on my belly," Mother said, "Don't worry, I don't mind. Now feel. Not just with your hand but connect it with your soul, as well."

I closed my eyes and concentrated on my soul. Soon, I felt something-curiosity, excitement, and love-run through my body. Tiny waves of it kept coming steadily. I looked up at Mother incredulously. She chuckled.

"What you're feeling is your little sibling's soul pulsing," Mother explained, "It's wonderful, isn't it? They're so small and fragile, and they haven't even started living yet, but they can already feel, and you can already feel them."

"It is wonderful," I whispered. "Why did you not announce the baby?" I asked.

Mother frowned for a second. "It is not very safe to do that at the moment," she said, "Word can spread to humans, and I do not want to put either of you in more danger." She looked at my nervous expression. "Would you like to name your sibling, Asgore?"

I tensed, "What?"

"You are their big brother," Mother said, "Lots of children are named by their older siblings. A name is chosen by a child's closest family, and it sticks with them forever. You are as much the baby's closest family as I am. It is only right that you pick a name for them."

"I am not good with names," I said.

"It doesn't matter," Mother said, "I'm sure they will love whatever name they get."

"I will try my best to pick out a good name for them," I said.

"Thank you, Asgore," Mother said, "I can tell you've matured a lot since the war started. I wish your father was here to see you."

I felt something wet slide down my face. Mother pulled me onto her lap, something she hasn't done since I was very small. It was a tight squeeze since I was almost too big to fit on her lap now, baby or no baby, but it was comforting.

"I miss him," I said quietly. When I left the Capital, I expected Father to be here welcoming me when I returned. It was not the fact that Father is not here that bothers me, since he and Mother used to leave for political trips all the time, but it is the fact that I know he will not come back.

"I miss him too," Mother said, "I am so sorry that you have to grow up in this situation, Azzy. You and Toriel both. I will do my best to make sure that both of you have the best childhood you can have."

"Can I go into Father's office sometime?" I asked.

Mother raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"He is not using it anymore, and most of his things are there," I said, "The office reminds me of him."

Mother smiled sadly. "It reminds me of him too," she said, "You can go as long as you don't disturb any of his things. It had not been cleaned for almost a month, so I will probably get one of the servants to dust it off, first. After that, you can go in whenever you like."

She gently pushed me off her lap, to my disappointment, and left, telling me to wait for her to get something. She came back a few minutes later with a red trident that was almost three times my height.

"Is that-"

"It was your father's trident," Mother confirmed. She set it on the rug in front of me and asked if I would like to keep it.

"The ruler of the kingdom is supposed to have it," I said, "It should be yours."

"Yes," Mother said, "But you will be king someday, won't you? I can get my own weapon, but the trident was always passed down from parent to child. Your father inherited from his father, and he inherited it from his mother, and she from her parent, and so on. It was always supposed to go to you."

I rubbed the handle on the trident. It was so big. I could barely wrap one hand around it. I have held it before, but I had never imagined that I would use it. How does one use a trident, anyway?

"I was meaning to tell you I've found someone who can teach you how to use it," Mother said, "You haven't learned any combat at all since you came home, anyway. You and Toriel both go back to classes in a week."

"It is too big for me to use," I said, "I can barely hold it up."

"We were planning on having you train when you turned sixteen, since you would be much taller and stronger then, but I don't think I can afford to have you wait that long anymore," Mother said. I did not think I could wield the trident very well even if I was sixteen. Why would I need to use it? Mother said that I was going to stay in the Capital.

"Are humans going to attack us, Mother?" I asked.

"No, of course not," Mother said. She paused when I frowned at her. We both know that she was lying. "Actually," she said, "I think you're old enough to handle the truth. I don't know if or when humans will attack, but they might at any time. I will do anything to protect you, and I'm sure Toriel will too, but what if you're left to fight humans on your own? I don't want you to fight anyone you don't have to fight, but if someone attacks you, you need to know self defense."

I thought about what Toriel wrote in her last entry, about how she would sacrifice her life for me. The thought scared me. I did not want her to die for me. I did not want anyone to die for me. I do not know what I would do with myself if Toriel died.

"Where is Miss Hadriel's staff?" I asked, "You know, the one with the spiral blades and the round tip that shoots fire?"

Mother took on a painful expression. "We...we don't know, Azzy," she said, "Your father and Hadriel were both killed in an ambush while their army was travelling at night. Paz's people have a habit of taking prizes from their opponents. With humans it's more gruesome-they take part of the scalp-but they're not interested in monster dust. Paz's people have been taking armor and weapons from fallen monsters. Whoever killed your Father took his cape and left his trident for one of the soldiers to bring back, thank goodness, but the humans have Hadriel's staff now."

"But it belongs to Toriel," I said.

Mother shook her head, "According to Paz's culture, if you defeat someone in battle, you have the right to take whatever spoils you want."

I wanted to say that that is sick and wrong, but then I remembered how monsters used to take humans souls from corpses, even if they did not defeat the human in battle.

"What will Toriel be doing when I am training with the trident?" I asked.

"She can use a regular spear to train," Mother said, "You will be learning two very different forms of fighting. You will learn mainly self defense, but Toriel will learn more offensive moves."

I have learned how to fight before, but every time we spar, Toriel always have better defense and I always have better offense. That's why she always wins-she wins because I cannot win against her. We should just work on the parts we are good at. We can fight together, although I guess that was not what Mother wanted us to do.

Maybe I will pick a special name for the baby. Something that shows where they came from. I should mix together Mother and Father's names to make my little sibling's name!

I think I like the name Amyras. I will ask Mother about it tomorrow.

~Asgore

 **Aaaaand I've finally introduced all five main characters. It only took me thirty chapters to do that but oh well.**

 **Remember that's it's an incredibly bad idea to wear a hat made of technetium!**

 **Review!**

 **~Pandora**


	31. Chapter 31

**Hi guys, I know I've talked about this before, but PLEASE REVIEW. If you liked the story, please leave a review saying why you liked it or even just that you thought it was neat. If you didn't like the story, please leave a review giving me suggestions on what to improve in the next chapter. Favorites and Follows are great, but I want to know what you guys want in the story. I've planned out most of the story, but reader suggestions are always welcome to put in as filler chapters or character development arcs since I haven't planned a lot of that out yet. It would mean a lot to me if you guys could review. Remember, I'll post an extra chapter if I get more than fifteen reviews on the previous one.**

 **Anyway, here's today's chapter:**

February 28, 171 A.E.

Entry #31

This morning Paz came to our castle with something wrapped in a purple bundle and called for a day-long truce. Mother grudgingly agreed. She asked Toriel and me to come and have tea with her and Paz. Toriel looked like she was going to faint. I felt the same.

Mother had a table set out in the front courtyard and had a few servants make us all hot tea. I did not know why she was wearing such a thick overcoat. It was almost spring. It was not that cold. Even if it was that cold, I did not see why we had to have tea outside when we could easily have used the dining room.

Paz leaned back on her chair and sipped at a cup of golden flower tea. Mother had had the guards search her for weapons. Paz had given Mother the bundle she was carrying, which I thought looked a lot like a spear. Mother and Paz sat across from each other at the head of the table. Toriel had insisted on sitting on the same side of the table with me. She was glaring at Paz the whole time. It felt very awkward.

"It's been a long time, hasn't it, Amoura?" Paz asked, "How long has it been since we've had tea together? Eight years? Nine?"

"Eight years," Mother said coolly, "What are you trying to do, Paz? You come here with no weapons to use and you bring no human troops within walkable distance of the Capital. There is no way for you to attack anyone here."

"I don't want to fight today," Paz said, biting into a scone, "I just want to talk. It's been a while since we did that, hasn't it, old friend? This war is so stressful."

"If you're stressed, then I don't suppose we'd mind all that much if you surrendered," Mother said. She had not touched her tea.

"No," Paz replied, "I don't get to make that decision. I'm just one of the elders-which is weird, by the way, since a monster my age wouldn't even be considered all that old, would they? Anyway, everyone in the council of the elders wants this war. I may be an elder, but I'm a chief, too. I can't just disobey those other old people and get away with it, you know?"

"If you had one ruler for your village then this wouldn't have happened," Mother said, "Now hundreds of humans and monsters are dead because of your flawed system."

"Oh, it's not like you don't have a council, Amoura," Paz said.

"Yes, but I have a third of the votes," Mother said, "You are the chief, Paz, so why can't you take control?"

Paz chuckled dryly. "That is not how our government works. This war is the best for our people. The people in the council all agree on that. The elders have always been wise. I am considered old in my village now, but I still feel young and inexperienced. I follow the council's orders."

"The council's orders are unreasonable," Mother said, "It has caused everyone nothing but pain and grief." She took a deep breath. "You have never been married, Paz. You do not know what it's like to lose your husband and your best friend in a far off land."

"You do not know," Paz said quietly, "What it's like to have to battle and kill your best friend since childhood." I gasped. Toriel reached under the table and squeezed my hand. "I've asked the warrior who killed Hadriel to give up his prize, and I've given up mine, too." She looked in our direction.

Mother put a hand on my shoulder. "Asgore is my only child. He is the only remaining monster of the Dreemurr bloodline. I will not let you hurt him." I opened my mouth to say that I was not Mother's only child, and there was still baby Amyras, who will also be of the Dreemurr bloodline when they are born. Toriel stomped on my foot and slowly shook her head when I turned to look at her.

Paz shrugged. "Nothing I can do about what the council decides. Open the package I've brought, Amoura." She grinned at us, her dark red eyes glittering in a way I did not like. "I see you've grown tall, Toriel. And you too, Asgore. Your parents have always been like siblings to me. It's the best I can do for Amynos and Hadriel's kids."

Mother scowled and retrieved the long bundle while servants moved the tea set and the food away. It was not like anyone except for Paz was eating anything, anyway. The edge of the cloth the bundle was wrapped with was lined with striped material-decorative embroidery from Narfolk, I saw. The rest of the cloth was purple, and as Mother unwrapped more of it, I saw golden shoulder pads and a collar with the same embroidery on it. It was a cape, I realized.

It was _Father's_ cape.

Mother seemed to realize this as soon as I did because her hands froze for a moment and she started to unwrap the bundle faster. In the middle of the bundle was a thin staff-like a spear but made from even more refined magical metals from the Tenew mines. A glass orb with swirls in it was place at the top of the staff and three long spiraling blades poked out from under the orb.

Toriel covered her mouth. I saw tears in her eyes. Mother held Miss Hadriel's staff-now Toriel's, I suppose-and made a sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a sob. Slowly, she handed the staff to Toriel. She took it gently. I ducked because the staff was almost as long as the trident and seemed like it was going to hit me any moment. Toriel, realizing this, carefully put it under our chairs.

"Anyway," Paz said, "Our other allies have been getting some information about the monster kingdom from a mutual acquaintance. I would have thought that you would have closed the borders on most of your cities by now, Amoura. Nightstar is eccentric, from what I've heard about him, but he had a good point. And isn't it poor taste to shove so much responsibility on a child as young as Toriel here?"

"Where did you hear about that?" Mother asked.

"I know you keep a lot of secrets, Amoura," Paz said, her eyes drifting down to Mother's abdomen and back up again. "I'm just saying that some secrets have a way of getting out."

"What else have you heard?" Mother asked stiffly.

"I'm not allowed to give out information that might affect the war," Paz said.

"Paz," Mother said quietly, "if this is some sort of psychological warfare you're trying to accomplish, it's not going to work. All of the members of the Monarch's Council are loyal subjects of the Monster Kingdom. None of them will ever betray their queen."

Paz shrugged. "If you say so," she said. "By the way, the next time you go to Flenin, tell the soldiers that I admire their fighting style. I don't think any of them has absorbed a soul since the beginning of the war, but those who already had a soul are in such good control of them. My soldiers go to battle and get massacred by those warriors, but I think there's just not enough humans on the battlefield. If only we knew where there will be Flenin soldiers when we go back to battle, right? Then we can send more troops."

"What are you saying?" Mother said, "What do you mean?"

"Whatever you want it to mean, Amoura dear," Paz said. "I think we humans would be doing better if there were no healers from Aiphuoxbone, either. They heal your soldiers so fast that you can't even kill a monster on the battlefield if you don't work quickly. And you boss monsters are even worse. You can heal your own wounds almost as well as a skeleton and fight almost as well as a fish monster! That's very inconvenient for us humans, don't you think?"

"Do you have any particular reason to be here, Paz?" Mother asked, "Other than making empty threats and attempts at mind games?"

Paz's face fell. "Apparently I don't," she said quietly. Paz's poncho fluttered around her body gracefully as she turned on her heel and marched out the gate.

"By the way," she paused a few steps away from the gate and turned to me, "I'm glad that you have a backup plan, Amoura, but you should really do your best to protect Asgore. Everyone wants the dust of the royal family these days."

After Paz left, Mother sighed sadly and turned to pick up Father's cape. Toriel seemed deep in thought. I wanted to ask her what she was thinking about, but she did not seem to want to talk. She took her staff and headed back to the castle. I tried to call out to her but she just picked up her pace until she basically sprinted back to the castle.

"Mother?" I asked, "What was that backup plan that Paz was talking about? And why do people want our dust?"

Mother looked down at me. She looked like she was about to cry. What had I done wrong? I did not mean to make her cry.

"You wouldn't understand, Asgore," she said, "Go play with Toriel."

"Maybe I will not understand, but I still want to know!" I protested, "Why will you not tell me?"

"If I tell you," Mother said quietly, "you will hate me."

"But-"

"This is final," Mother said, "Go play with Toriel."

Frustrated, I stomped back to my room. What could Mother possibly be planning that would make me hate her?

I just had a strange thought-does she think that I am the one telling the humans information? I have not said anything about the things I heard at the meeting to anyone but monsters in the Von Salamancer mansion and Toriel. Toriel would not interact with humans, but maybe one of the servants in Dalelry overheard me and passed the information on?

I feel so guilty. I need to watch who I tell things to.

~Asgore

 **So that was totally not my probably unsuccessful attempt to make Paz a sympathetic character and this totally doesn't foreshadow like 50 future plot points.**

 **Remember that if you fling someone into space with all their friends and hit them with their own spaceship, then don't be too trusting when they come back and say that they want to hang out with you and be best friends.**

 **Review! (Seriously guys please review)**

 **~Pandora**


	32. Chapter 32

**Hi, everyone! Sorry that there wasn't a chapter last week. I had writer's block. To make up for it, I'm posting two chapters today. Here's the first one:**

March 11, 171 A.E.

Entry # 32

My hand is still shaking as I write this. I do not know why I am so distressed now of all days. It is my birthday. I should be celebrating with Asgore and Queen Amoura and not holed up in my room sobbing hysterically. Oh, how disappointed with me the queen must be!

I had been excited for my birthday. Today I turned into a teenager with plenty of frivolous celebration, like birthdays ought to have. There was no dance party like last year and every year before that, but I was glad for a quieter celebration with just the staff and guards in the castle.

Queen Amoura said that we will just have smaller celebrations like these from now on until the end of the war. Asgore was disappointed that we were not allowed to invite Wingdin here, and so was I, but I understood the queen's wish to keep things quiet.

Everyone wished me a happy birthday, and I absentmindedly responded and moved on. Soon I realized that I was subconsciously looking for Mother in the crowd. I stopped in my tracks and swallowed a lump in my throat. Why would Mother be here? She died nearly two months ago. I knew that. I was at her funeral. Her dust is sitting on her wedding ring in a pedestal in the castle. She was gone.

The reality of the situation came crashing down. It was quite overwhelming. Mother was gone. She was never coming back. I will become the royal advisor in her place and she will not be there to guide me through it. She will not be there to guide me ever again. I did not realize how much I longed for one of her hugs or the birthday cake she would bake for me every year.

She was the perfect mother, and the perfect royal advisor. How was I supposed to measure up to her? My vision became blurry. I was going to cry, I realised. I should not cry at the party. It would be impolite to make a scene.

I hid my face under my shirt and scurried away from the crowd of servants. I was not looking carefully when I was heading up to my room, and I bumped into a hard shell.

"Hey!" Gerson said, "Be careful." He brushed himself off and saw my expression. "You're crying," he said.

"I am not," I muttered, dodging around him to reach the stairs, but he grabbed my arm.

"Yeah you are," he said, "What happened?" I shrugged his hand off, glaring at him. He blushed. "Uh, sorry, Lady Toriel. I didn't mean to be rude!"

"You were not," I said, "Do not worry. I am fine."

"Ya want me to get Prince Asgore?" he asked. I shook my head. Asgore has his own grievances to deal with. I cannot burden him with this kind of thing, especially today. Today is a day for him-for everyone to have fun. I am thirteen today. I can handle this on my own.

"It's your birthday, though," Gerson said, "Don't cry on your birthday."

Did it really matter if it was my birthday? When did it ever matter? I was just one day older than yesterday. What was the difference, really? I did not feel any more mature, even though I am supposed to be. Instead, I just feel as hopeless as ever. Maybe even more.

I let out a frustrated sob. Gerson awkwardly patted my shoulder and guided me to sit on the steps with him. It was embarrassing, really, to cry in front of someone you've only spoken to a few times during training.

"Hey. What's wrong?" Gerson asked after I have calmed down to only sniffles.

"Do you ever miss your parents?" I asked, remembering him and Gerdon telling us about their parents. They said they had gone to fight in the mountains.

Gerson shrugged. "Gerdon says I should just forget about 'em. He says that we live here now, and we don't have to go back to 'em again."

"But they are your parents," I said, "Do you not wish that your family was whole and back in your village to live happily?"

Gerson sighed. "Can you keep a secret?" When I nodded, he continued, "My parents…are kind of bad. My brother and I went to Flenin specifically to get away from 'em. They aren't actually fighting in the mountains. We just told the people at Flenin that so they wouldn't contact 'em."

"So they did not want you two to go fight?" I asked. Mother would have been furious if I had tried to join the army a town over. But monsters over fifteen had the right to decide for themselves whether or not they wanted to be in the army, although it was standard protocol to inform their families. Even if Gerson and Gerdon's parents did not want them to join, it was not like they could stop them.

"Eh," Gerson said, "They don't actually care. Mom'll miss her punching bags and Dad'll need to run his own errands now, but they'll appreciate the quiet." I reminded Gerson that his parents could not legally stop him and his brother from joining the army if they were old enough. The look on his face told me all I needed to know.

"You guys aren't old enough." I had suspected it since I have met them a month ago. They did not have the same air of maturity that would surely come to them with a few more years of age. "You lied about your ages to the officials and made up that story about your parents so they would not contact them to ask about your ages." Gerson buried his face in his hands and nodded. "How old are you, really?"

"My brother and I both turned thirteen last November," he confessed, "You're not gonna tell on me, are you?" he asked. I promised him that I would not. Asgore, if you are reading this right now, then I ask you to keep Gerson and Gerdon's secret for them as well. They do not have anywhere else to go otherwise.

"Why are you trying to fight in the war, though?" I asked.

"Heh. Gerdon and I want to be war heroes," Gerson said, "like the ones out of the stories from the Civil War. I know it's going to be a great big adventure that'll give good stories to tell to kids in the future when we're old. It'll make our parents angry too! Wah ha ha."

I had never really considered that children would try to stay away from their parents. I knew that everyone argued with their parents, since I have myself. All the parents I have met, though, have been nothing but kind and loving. I did not know that a mother was allowed to hit her child. How lucky I was to have two mothers that never hit me. Maybe if Gerson and Gerdon had parents like mine, they would not have run off to join the army.

One of my parents fell down when I was eleven, though, and the other was killed in combat, so that might not be an ideal condition for any child to grow up in. I know it was not for me.

Where did monsters go when their souls burst? Human souls stay where they die, and they can choose to give their soul to another newborn human. But boss monster souls burst into pieces soon after death. Are Mother and Mom's souls reunited somewhere and left to wait for me to join them? Or do they both just face oblivion, never to see each other again? What will become of them, now that they are gone? What will become of me when I am gone?

Gerson tilted his head to look at me and I saw that his expression was equal parts pity and worry. "Ya know," he said jokingly, "If this is a story, then the person writing it must be a really bad author, eh? We're supposed be having a heartfelt conversation about your problems, not mine. So what's wrong? Is it your parents?"

My face turned hot. Whether it was out of embarrassment or shame, I could not tell. "I miss my mother," I said, "It has been months now, and I do not know why I am still so upset even now. I know I should just accept it and move on, but-"

"'S only been two months, from what I heard," Gerson cut in, "I don't think it's wrong to miss someone you love, even if it's not gonna do you much good."

"I suppose," I said, "But Queen Amoura seems like she's always so stressed and I do not think sitting around grieving would help her in any way. I want to help."

"With what?" Gerson asked, "I dunno much about the law system, but don't you only become royal advisor when you turn twenty? What are you even gonna help with?"

"I-" I stopped. What _could_ I even do? Queen Amoura has asked me to make myself useful, but what use am I? In the event that anything happens to the queen, I will be in charge of protecting Asgore, but nothing has happened to the queen, thankfully. I am not supposed to join in on planning battle strategies or running the kingdom until I become of age. I suppose I am allowed to know more information about the state of the kingdom than Asgore would, but I have nothing to do with that information. All the extra knowledge had just made me more scared.

"I dunno about parents," Gerson said, "but if anything happened to my brother, I would be devastated. Don't be so hard on yourself for not gettin' over your mom so soon. Before you help anyone else, you have to help yourself, first."

With that, he walked me upstairs to my room and offered to get me another slice of cake. It is strange, really, how I get emotional at the oddest of times and places.

Asgore just came in my room with a slice of cake that he said was from Gerson. He also noticed that I had been crying and hugged me for a long time. He did not ask why I had been crying, like Gerson did, but I think he understood why. After all, I had seen him crying in his room before for the same reason. I did not offer to talk about it with him, so he did not push.

"So," he said, "Gerson seemed pretty nice."

"He is," I agreed, smiling faintly.

"I have not talked to him much, though," Asgore said, "What is he like?"

"He is a kind monster," I said, "He and his brother lied about their ages to join the army. He is actually thirteen-we are the same age now!" I turned to look at Asgore and found him staring at his feet with an odd expression on his face. "What?"

"Nothing," Asgore said, a little too quickly for my taste. He held up a box. "I got you the book you said you wanted. There's also a bookmark in there that I made."

I opened the box. Inside was a copy of _72 Uses for Snails_. I did not realize that Asgore saw me eyeing that book the last time we went to the nearby bookstore. Perhaps I could have found this book in the castle library, but now Asgore has saved me the trip. I flipped through the pages. In the middle of the book, Asgore has put in a piece of thick fabric. Its edges were cut with an intricate pattern and lovely flowers were painted on it.

"You made this yourself?" I asked, "Thank you so much, Asgore." I hugged him and headed to my bookshelf to find somewhere to put the book. A line in the wall beside the bookshelf caught my eye. I stopped.

"Tori?" Asgore said, "What is it?"

"Help me move the bookshelf," I replied.

After a lot of effort, we managed to move the bookshelf to reveal a door hidden behind it. It was painted the same color of purple as the wall, but the sound it made when I knocked on it told me that it was metal and not wood like the rest of the building. There was a small dent in the wall to use to grab the door, since it had no handle. I grabbed the sheet of metal and pulled. With a pop, the door opened and the musty smell of mildew wafted out from behind the wall.

I looked at the empty space between the outside and the inside wall. It was only a few feet of space, but it was easily big enough for Asgore and me to fit in. I lit a small flame and looked around inside the wall. Right below us there was a ladder.

"I am going to see where it goes," I said. Carefully, I stepped onto the ladder and started climbing down. It made a loud creak as I stepped on it. For a moment, I was afraid that the rungs would snap under my weight, but it held.

"Be careful!" Asgore said, "Please come up, Tori. That does not look safe." I assured him that I would be fine and climbed down some more.

After about thirty or so steps, I heard the familiar voice of Queen Amoura chatting with some of the servants. I lit a flame again and examined the wall in front of me. There was another door. This time it was wooden, like the rest of the wall. I pushed the door and it opened outward just a bit, then it stopped. It was probably the vines on the old walls that kept it from opening any further.

If I had pushed a bit harder, the vines would have broken and I would have fell out of the wall, alerting everyone in the area about the door, including Queen Amoura. Instead, I quietly climbed up the ladder again and stepped back into my room.

When I told Asgore about the secret passage, he had wanted to tell his mother about it. But I thought of that "backup plan" that Paz mentioned. The queen had not denied that there was one. Maybe it was not a good idea for Queen Amoura to know about a secret passageway out of the castle for now.

Asgore has agreed to keep quiet, but I cannot help but wonder who put the passage there. It seemed like it had not been used for decades. Perhaps Asgore's great grandparents put it there when the castle was first being built. I suppose we will never know.

Perhaps Queen Amoura knew about this passage too. Either way, I will not risk asking her to find out.

~Toriel

 **Oh gee I wonder if this is ever going to be relevant to the story in any way.**

 **Next chapter's coming up!**

 **~Pandora**


	33. Chapter 33

**Hi, everyone! Here's the second chapter:**

March 30, 171 A.E.

Entry #33

Today we got another letter from Wingdin. I have not put any of his letters here before, so I will put this one here now:

Dear Toriel &Asgore,

You guys are training with your parent's weapons now? That sounds so cool! My science notes say that boss monsters have drastically increased attack when they're fighting with a weapon. How strong are your attacks now? Try(dent) to learn to balance your dad's weapon, Asgore!

Cortisia just turned six a few days ago. She tried to get me to take her to the human village nearby again, but I said no. I haven't really been there since the incident last Angel's Eve, but I still plan on going there this year. I probably still won't take Cortisia, though. She'd just tell on me to our parents. Besides, if she wants to see the human village, they take all the eight year olds on a trip there every year. She'd just have to wait two more years.

I can't wait for my birthday. It's in June, so I only have to wait another two and a half months. I wish you guys could come, but I get why the queen's antsy about you guys leaving the Capital. It's okay. We can find a way to meet up with each other after the war.

Miss Helvetica has been teaching us more attacks. I don't know why humans would attack Aiphuoxbone, but Dad is always going on about how we should learn to fight "just in case." Honestly, he can stop nagging. I get it. War's dangerous.

We're learning something called a blue attack. It turns your opponent's soul blue and shifts their center of gravity. Mainly the blue attack makes it hard for the opponent to move around and jump over attacks, but you can also use it to move souls around in real life. Miss Helvetica picked up one of the other kids by the soul and moved her around. She said if you're really good at the blue attack, you can even us it to move around objects that don't have a soul. I've tried it but it's not working. I'm feeling pretty blue about it.

Anyway, recently, I've been working on my bone attacks. Last week, I managed to summon bone attacks that spelled out the words "COOL DUDE." It has no functional purpose, but it does look cool. When I made that attack, I lost the sparring match because I was focusing so much on making the attacks look showy. That's okay, though. It's only a practice match.

How's combat training going for you guys? Write back soon!

Sincerely,

W. D. Gaster

I am not sure why Wingdin's initials are W. D. Gaster and not just W. Gaster, since his first name is Wingdin and not Wing Din. I guess W. D. Gaster sounds fancier.

I am still having trouble balancing Father's trident. The tip is still too heavy. When I hold it, I always keep the tip pointing down unless I am fighting because otherwise it just hurts my arms.

The monster that Mother found to teach us how to fight is very good at his job, although he is very strict. It has been over a month since he arrived at the castle and I do not think he has spoken a word to me that is not about how I hold my trident or the balance of my stance. He was originally just supposed to teach me, but now that Toriel has her mother's staff, we are allowed to spar together.

I have never fought with a weapon before, but Mother says I must be very careful while sparring with someone else. My regular fire attacks usually just do about ten or twenty points of damage, but when I have my trident, they can do fifty. I found out about that when I accidentally hit Toriel in a sparring session two weeks ago. The trident is even more dangerous. According to Mother, a well placed poke with it can kill someone.

Toriel's staff is the same. She has better control over her flame attacks than me, so I have not been hit yet, but it looked painful when I hit Toriel. She says that it was alright, but I must keep working on controlling my attacks.

Yesterday we were sparring again while Mother watched. The tutor was standing close by in case one of us got injured. We were supposed to spar until one of us can knock the other to the ground and point their weapon at the other's chest for at least three seconds.

I swung the trident at Toriel and she blocked all of the swings, like I knew she would. At first I had been nervous to just swing a real trident at her, but hesitating only made it harder to swing the trident. When I swung at full force, the tip would feel lighter to move around than if I did not. Luckily, Toriel is very good at blocking my trident. I would be so upset if I accidentally hurt her during sparring.

Toriel rolled a few yards away from me and pointed her staff at me. Flames traveled down the shaft and the orb at the end burned purple. Fire swirled around the orb in the same direction as the blades circling it. Toriel tilted the staff upwards and a burning ball of purple fire shot towards me. I easily blocked them with my trident. A fireball was headed towards my face that I did not react to fast enough to block, but Toriel waved her hand and the fireball curved around me.

"Try your magic attacks!" the tutor shouted at us. I quickly decided on a sequence of colors the attacks will be: blue, blue, orange, blue. The trident pulsed with magic and shone the colors I have decided back at me. I swung the trident four times. Toriel stayed still for the first two times I swung and moved around for the third time before freezing in place for the last swing.

It was Toriel's turn. The orb on her staff glowed orange, blue, blue, and orange. I moved the first time she swung the staff at me, then I stood still as the trail of blue flames the staff left behind passed through my body harmlessly. I waited until she had finished her second swing before running though the orange fire she had left behind, and did the same for the third swing. At the end of the fourth swing, I almost moved before the last of the blue fire had passed by.

As soon as the fire was gone, I charged at her, my trident pointed towards her arm. It was an easy enough strike that Toriel would have no problem dodging it. It was one of the first basic attacks that the tutor had taught us. I saw her glance at Mother, who gave an approving nod. In return, Toriel took a shaky breath and focused on me again.

She did not dodge the swing. Instead, she stepped to the right so that my trident would have been driven right into her chest, where her soul was. Startled, I moved my trident out of the way seconds before I ran into her. I crashed into her and would have made both of us fall, but Toriel stepped out of the way just in time for me to fall face first into the grass. I rolled onto my back, shocked and dazed, and saw her point her staff at my chest.

"One," she counted with a grim determination on her face, "two, three." Toriel turned to Mother and the tutor. "I win," she said. Mother chuckled and clapped. The tutor gave Toriel an approving nod. I angrily stood up and marched towards her.

"What the heck was that?" I demanded, "I could have stabbed you!"

Toriel jumped, "I knew you would pull away in time," she said. I noticed her hands and knees were shaking.

"Yeah but that was cheating! You cannot use that in actual battle!"

"Of course she can, Azzy," Mother said, "There is no cheating in an actual battle."

"What if you were fighting against someone who actually wanted to kill you?" I asked Toriel, "They will not move aside for you. Will you just kill yourself to defeat an enemy?"

"If the situation calls for it," Mother said, "then yes, she will." Toriel hugged her arm and gave me a small nod.

"It is my responsibility to protect you if anything happens," Toriel said softly, "If a human is going to threaten your life, then I will do what I must."

I turned to Mother, but she shook her head. "Toriel won this match, Azzy," she said, "There's no use in arguing. Don't worry. Practice more and maybe next time you'll beat her. I think you two both did a great job today and you both deserve a break. Tomorrow you will meet here again and practice."

Mother left to make us some cold drinks and the tutor went back to his quarters for the day. I was left alone with Toriel. She stood with her back facing me, trying to steady her shallow breaths. That close call with the trident must have scared her a lot more than she let on.

"I do not want to ever fight in a real battle," I said to her. Toriel tensed and began to walk away, but I caught up and grabbed her wrist. "I do not want to ever fight an actual battle, but we both know that that will happen someday. When we do battle-whether it is with humans or someone else-please promise me you will not try what you did today."

Toriel pulled her hand away and turned to me. "I-I do not want to die, either," she said, "I promise I will not do it unless your life is in danger."

"No!" I said, "You need to promise you will not do it at all! I will protect myself, but I do not want anyone else dying to protect me! You need to promise you will never pull a stunt like that again. Promise me you will not put yourself in danger just to protect me."

Toriel sighed. "Fine," she said, "I promise." With that she quietly left. We both knew, though, that she did not plan on keeping that promise.

I do not want anyone risking their lives for me. I must be king someday. What good is a king if he cannot even protect his people? What good is a king if he cannot even protect his royal advisor? I do not think I could stand it if Toriel died.

Toriel has always been smarter and stronger than me. She understands the kingdom more than I do. She would be a much better leader than me. The monster kingdom needs their king, but I need my royal advisor.

Oh, what do I do? I do not know anymore.

~Asgore

 **Hooo boy there's no way this could ever come into play either.**

 **I know that Toriel needs to have a weaker attack than Asgore because she's the boss you fight first when you're not as experienced in the game and Asgore's kinda the final boss excluding Flowey/Asriel. I came up with this whole weapon means stronger attack thing because why not. Be glad you don't have to go against Toriel's staff in the game.**

 **Remember that if you're going to make someone wait for four hours in the hospital, then maybe give them wifi so they don't have to watch Toopy and Binoo for three of those four hours. (Yesterday was...interesting.)**

 **Review!**

 **~Pandora**


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